What I've Been Looking For
by Bluebell140
Summary: Troy's the oldest of seven, who all happen to be twins. When his Mum's work brings Gabriella home to stay with them, will they both find what they've been looking for? TROYELLA!
1. Meeting the Family

**Alright, here's a new story for you guys, I really hope you like it.**

**I don't own anything! None of it at all! Except the plot that is!**

Meeting the Family

Jack and Lucille Bolton had always wanted a big family, they'd never come up with an exact number of children, they just knew they wanted a lot.

Their family was complete now, with seven children making up the Bolton family. They'd never seen a family quite like theirs before and they'd definitely describe themselves as different, but they wouldn't change any of it for the world.

You see, Jack and Lucille's first child was a son, but the rest of them were all twins, five girls and one boy, leaving their eldest, Troy, without that special sibling to turn to for the rest of his life.

Troy Alexander Bolton is the eldest of the Bolton children at seventeen and is a senior at East High school. He inherited his looks from Jack, the sandy brown hair, the piercing blue eyes and his amazing physique. He did inherit Lucille's personality though, her calm, considerate and patient nature could all be seen in Troy as he grew up, and are still present to this day.

Jessica Lucille and Jasmine Rose Bolton are next in line and the first set of twins for Jack and Lucille; they're fifteen and are sophomores at East High. The girls are identical in every which way possible, with Jack's hair and blue eyes and Lucille's facial features. It was a nightmare to tell them apart when they were younger, but as they grew up, so did they're personalities. Now, they're two very different people, Jessica being sporty and loud and Jasmine being academic and quiet.

Amber Lucille and Lillie Joanna Bolton come next and are the second set of twins to join the Bolton family; they're nine and are in fourth grade at East Albuquerque Elementary school. Unlike they're older sisters; the girls aren't identical, making life a lot easier for everyone involved. They both share Jack's hair colour and Lucille's facial features, but Lillie is taller with Jack's blue eyes, while Amber is shorter with Lucille's electric green eyes. Amber is the only Bolton child to have Lucille's eye colour and is often picked on about that and her height at school. But her parents always reassure her, and tell her that her green eyes make her very special, and that most importantly great things come in small packages, this never fails to cheer her up.

Sophie Marie and Samuel Jack Bolton bring the family to nine, they may only be one, but are complete bundles of energy. When they found out they were having another set of twins, Jack and Lucille really wanted at least one boy, Jack and Troy were starting to feel outnumbered, so when Samuel came along they were more than happy. Sophie and Samuel aren't old enough to go to school, so they go to day care or their Grandparents are brave enough to have them. They both share Jack's hair and eye colours, but like many of their siblings have Lucille's facial features.

When it came to naming their children, Jack and Lucille didn't want any funny names that rhymed, but they did want their names involved. Which is why, one twin from each set has one of their names, while Troy gained Jack's middle name.

You'd think being in a big family would mean a crazy household, right? Not with the Bolton's, they're incredibly close and although the odd argument does occur every now and then, their house is usually a reasonably calm place to be.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy sat down on the wall that surrounded the school fountain, as he waited for two of his sisters to join him, so that he could drive them home. He'd had a long week of exams, lessons and basketball training and he just wanted to go home, relax and enjoy the start of his four day weekend.

"Troy!" Upon hearing his name, Troy looked up to find his best friend Chad Danthorth and his girlfriend Taylor Mckessie, walking towards him hand in hand.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Troy asked, as the pair came to a stop in front of him.

"You're waiting for the girl's right?" Chad asked, moving his arm to wrap round Taylor's waist.

"Yeah, why? What are they up to now?"

"Well, I'm not sure which one, but one of them is sat under that tree over there," Chad said, pointing to a tree near the school's pain entrance.

"Do you have any idea which one?" Troy asked, as he picked up his bag and stood up.

"I think it was Jasmine, she had her hair tied back this morning, right?" Troy nodded. "I'm pretty sure it was her then, but be careful Troy, she looked kinda upset and Jessica wasn't with her, so something must be going on." Taylor warned.

"Alright, thanks guys, I'll go speak to her, speak to you in the morning?"

The pair nodded and waved, as they walked away and Troy made his way over to his sibling.

As he got closer Troy was able to tell that it was indeed Jasmine sat under the tree and she was definitely upset, she was crying.

"Jasmine?" Troy was cautious as he approached. "Sis? You okay?"

Jasmine looked up to see Troy standing in front of her and quickly wiped away her tears, she didn't want him to see her crying.

"I'm fine Troy."

"Yeah, 'cause trying to hide your tears really convinces me, what's up?" Troy asked, as he sat down next to Jasmine.

"You can't tell Mum and Dad."

"Okay I won't, what's going on Jaz?"

"Jessie ditched me again."

"Again? Has she done this before? Where is she now for that matter?" Jasmine couldn't answer Troy, as more tears began to fall and she hid her face in her hands.

"Hey now little sis, no crying, it's okay," Troy tried to comfort his sister, as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He knew Jasmine didn't cry, at all if she could help it, so he knew something serious must be going on for her to be crying at school.

"Okay Jaz, no more tears, please sweetie. I'm not gonna tell Mum and Dad, but I need you to tell me what's happening, if you don't I'll have to tell them, and you know I hate to see you cry Jaz. Please Jazzy, talk to me?"

"It's been happening for a couple of weeks now, at first I thought she was just having a couple of bad days, but things only got worse. She stole my homework from my bag on Monday evening, she and her new little friends copied it exactly as I'd done it. The teacher obviously noticed and asked me what happened 'cause she figured I'd be honest, I was and so she spoke to the girls on Tuesday morning. That just made everything worse because now Jessie only speaks to me at home, and that's only because we share a room. These last few days have been horrible; they follow me everywhere and call me names, I hate it Troy, she's supposed to be my sister, my _twin_ sister."

"Jaz it's okay, we'll work it out. How come the teacher had your work if Jessie took it?"

"She gave it back; she put it through the vent in my locker hoping I wouldn't realise she'd even taken it. Obviously I had, I even did it again anyway, just in case she didn't give it back. I don't mind helping her with her work Troy, she knows that, but I don't like her copying it and I really don't like _them_ copying it. I know we're allowed other friends; we'd go mad if we didn't, but she's my sister Troy and she's barely talking to me, I haven't even done anything wrong."

"I know you haven't Jazzy, where's Jessie now? She isn't by my car and Dad wants us home by four, did you get the text?"

Jasmine nodded. "Yeah just now, house meeting it said; as long as Mum isn't pregnant again, I don't care."

Troy chuckled. "Same here, so where is Jessie?"

"She's taking the bus home with her new friends, Jemma and Jenna, who knows if she'll be home by four, they don't even live near us. I know she got Dad's text though, she read it in class; he must've sent it to all three of us at the same time."

"Yeah I think he did, listen, you got much homework over the weekend?"

"No, I've either done it or teachers haven't given any. I'm glad; I just wanna enjoy our four days off from school."

"Same here, I'm so glad the school needs repair work, I need some time off, I need to catch up on sleep, I've been revising too much, but exams are over now so it's okay. Anyway, neither of us have any homework so; wanna have a Troy and Jazzy night? Just the two of us, you can choose the movie."

Jasmine turned her head to look at her brother and smiled. "Yeah, that'd be nice; we haven't spent much time together recently."

"I know and that's partly my fault, but that's the past and we can't change it so, my room about eight-ish? Give us a chance to shower and change after dinner, alright? Jasmine nodded and Troy gave her one final squeeze, before pulling her up and over to his car, so they could head home and see what today's house meeting was all about.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy and Jasmine arrived home to find two of their younger sisters, Lillie and Amber, sat in the front living room, or the quiet room as it was called, doing their homework.

"Hey guys," Troy greeted, as he put his bag at the bottom of the stairs and his shoes in the cupboard underneath them. "What homework you doing?"

"Maths," Lillie answered. "But it's hard."

"Can you help us Troy?" Amber asked.

"I need to go and speak to Dad about something, but Jazzy will help you. She's great at maths, aren't ya Jaz?"

Jasmine, who had been putting her shoes away nodded and made her way over to the others. "Yeah I'll help, I'm much better than Troy anyway. What we doing today then girls?"

Troy smiled knowing Jasmine was in her element, so he left and went in search of their Dad. He'd promised Jasmine he wouldn't tell their parents what was going on, and he wouldn't, he didn't break promises. But he needed to at least tell him that Jasmine had had a tough day and that he had absolutely no idea where Jessica was.

Troy left the front room and bypassed the kitchen and dining room, before arriving at the main living room of the house, where he'd heard the sequels of his brother and sister.

The living room spread from the front to the back of the house, with the doorway in the middle on one side, kind of splitting the room in half, something the family had taken advantage of.

The right hand side of the doorway is crazy and colourful, with pretty much every electronic you can think of, while the left side is slightly more peaceful. It's a place for watching the telly, a place to cuddle up on the corner piece couch and the place where all house meetings are held.

Troy stood in the doorway and watched, as Jack sat in the middle of the floor, his arms out to his sides, still decked out in his wildcat coaching gear, as Samuel and Sophie ran up and down the room bashing into his arms, effectively knocking them over, something they both seemed to find hilarious.

"What on earth's going on in here?" Troy asked, causing his brother and sister to stop their game and run over to him, pulling on his hands until he came to sit with Jack.

"Hey son," Jack greeted Troy, as he sat down opposite him. "Good day?"

"Yeah not too bad, the exam wasn't too bad and training wasn't too tiring, which was nice of you, so all in all, not too bad. I need to catch up on sleep now though; I've stay up too late some nights."

"I know, I've seen you, hopefully it'll pay off though. What are you two doing over there?" Jack asked his youngest, who'd gone in search of a game or toy of some sort to play with.

"Dada!" Sophie exclaimed, as she and Samuel returned with their mini basketball set.

"Alright then, come here," Jack pulled Sophie onto his lap, while Sam situated himself on Troy's ready to play.

"Did the three of you get my text? It took ages to get your replies and I still haven't gotten one from Jessie."

"Yeah, about that, Jazzy and I aren't really sure where Jessie is right now, she got the bus home with two other girls, but they don't live near here, so we aren't sure when she'll be back. You should also know that Jazzy and Jessie aren't really talking right now. I can't tell you why, I promised Jazzy I wouldn't, but she is really upset about it Dad, so please be gently with her. I told her we could have a Troy and Jazzy night, that's alright with you isn't it?"

Jack sighed. "Yeah it's fine with me, just check with your Mum when she gets back, alright?" Troy nodded and helped Sam throw the soft ball into the mini hoop.

Lucille is a social worker and is based at a children's home about half an hour's drive away from the Bolton residence. The home is specialised in looking after children under the age of twelve, although Lucille does work with children of any age out of the home. She often gets emergency calls when children suddenly need social services help for somewhere to stay, and she's often returned home with an upset and frightened child who needs a home for the night, before she can find them a more permanent place to move into in the morning.

Troy, being the oldest, is used to his Mum's whacky working hours and knows that when she isn't around, especially at night, he needs to step up and help Jack out, something he doesn't mind, one little bit.

"Why don't you go and get changed Dad? I'll watch these while you do and don't worry, it's still only ten to four, Jessie's still got ten minutes to get here."

"Yeah I know, but I just have a feeling she won't be and I need you all here at four, it's really important, your Mum's getting here a little after."

"Okay Dad, stop worrying. If Jessie gets here, then great, if she doesn't, then you punish her or whatever later, just deal with what is happening at four first, okay?"

Jack nodded and stood up. "Round them up will ya, or at least get them all in this room."

"Alright Dad, I'll do it, now go!" Jack saluted Troy and left to go and get changed; knowing Troy was more than capable of doing as he'd asked.

**TGTGTGTG**

Fifteen minutes later, Jack arrived back in the living room, to find all of his children sat on the couch waiting for him.

"Sorry I'm a bit late guys, I phoned your Mum to find out what's happening and we were on the phone for longer than we planned to be, nice of you to join us Jessie." Jack commented to Jessie, who was sat at the end of the couch away from the others, texting quickly on her phone.

"Yeah hi Dad, can I sleep over at Jenna's tonight? Jemma's Mum said she could go, please?"

"Ask your Mum when she gets back, she might want you here. Do you not want to spend time with Jazzy then?" Jack knew he wasn't supposed to know about the girls' falling out, and he wasn't gonna make it obvious he knew, he just wanted to see Jessie's reaction.

"_No,_ Jenna and Jemma are much better than _her._"

"Okay then, just remember to ask your Mum and put your phone away please, this is important stuff, I need your full attention for this."

Jessie sighed, but still put her phone away in her pocket, as Jack took a seat in between her and her siblings.

"You all know that your Mum sometimes has to work with children who haven't got any family left, and you also know she sometimes needs to bring them back here for the night. It's doesn't happen very often, and it isn't usually for very long, but today's a little different."

"Okay Dad, just get to the point will ya? I've got better things to do," Jessie said, replying to yet another text.

"Jessie this is important, sp please give me the phone and stop with the attitude, especially towards Jazzy." Jessie sighed, but gave Jack the phone, making sure to give Jasmine the evil eye as she did so.

"Your Mum has known this young lady for a while now, coming on ten years, her name is Gabriella, she's seventeen and she now has no family left. Her Dad died when she was five, from cancer, and her Mum was killed in a car accident two years later. Your Mum met her then, and was able to contact Gabriella's grandparents so that she could live with them. Unfortunately last night; they were involved in car accident. Her Grandma died at the scene, but Gabriella and her Grandpa were okay and were taken to hospital. Sadly, her Grandpa later died from a heart attack, leaving Gabriella with no one."

"Is she hurt Daddy?" Amber asked from her spot next to Troy, her twin sat on his other side, with his arms wrapped around them both.

"She's got lots of cuts and bruises, and a special Velcro cast on her left wrist for a tiny break, but most of all she's really frightened of what's going to happen to her next."

"What _is_ gonna happen to her next Dad?" Jasmine asked from her spot on the couch, her feet pulled under her and a cushion cuddled to her chest.

"She's gonna come and stay with us for a while, we're not sure how long for, but right now the only person she feels safe to be around is your Mum. It's not gonna be easy for her, moving into a house with seven crazy children in because she's used to only living with two other people and doing everything around the house. _So,_ although we will ask her to help out eventually, right now she needs to recover, so no giving her your chores to do, understand?" The children all nodded so Jack continued.

"Your Mum wants you all to meet her, just to say hi and so that she can put names to faces, after that you're free to go, apart from you Troy. It's gonna take us a couple of days to sort out the box room, so 'til then Gabriella's gonna sleep in your room on the floor. She's your age and will be in your year when she starts going to school, so it would be nice if she could feel safe around you as well. That way she's got someone other than your Mum to turn to, that okay with you?"

"Yeah, 'course it is Dad, anything I can do to help."

"Thanks son," Jack was about to continue when they heard the front door open and Lucille's voice making its way through the house.

"Just be nice guys," Jack warned, as he stood to greet his wife and guest. "That's all I ask." The children old enough to understand nodded, before talking amongst themselves, apart from Jessie that was, who'd been given her phone back. The chatter stopped a few minutes later though, when the children felt their parents' presence in the room.

"Hey guys," Lucille greeted her children. "You can have your hugs in a minute girls, but first I'd like you to meet Gabriella, come here honey." The children waited patiently, as Lucille left the room and returned moments later with a scared looking girl, who had her eyes fixed on the ground.

Troy managed to meet eyes with Gabriella and smiled at her. She looked to be something just over five foot, had long black-y brown hair, brown eyes and seemed to be shaking.

"Gabi honey, these are my children who I've told you about, this is Troy, he' s seventeen like you, next to him is Jasmine and over there her twin Jessica, they're fifteen. Cuddled up next to Troy are my next two Amber and Lillie, they're nine. And these two cuties on the floor are Sophie and Samuel, it's pretty obvious which is which with them, they're one."

Gabriella looked up from her staring at the floor to find nine pairs of Bolton eyes on her, something she couldn't take, and so turned and ran back the way she'd come, and out through a door she'd seen on the way in, one she presumed led to the back garden.

"Sorry guys, she's still a little shaken right now, I'll go and talk to her."

"Can I go Mum?" Troy asked. "I won't make her do anything she doesn't wanna do, I'll just take this blanket to wrap round her and sit with her, I swear. I'll come to get you straight away if things get out of hand."

"Alright Troy, you can go and speak to her, it'll be nice for her to speak to someone other than me for a bit, not that she'll actually do much talking."

"It's okay Mum, I'll look after her, I promise," Troy said, as he grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and made his way towards the back door, in search of the clearly frightened and shaken brunette.

**TGTGTGTG**

Gabriella was scared and frightened and all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball, cry and forget about the world around her. But she couldn't, they were everywhere, and as much as she was grateful towards them for letting her come into their home, right now she just wanted to be alone. _But_, saying that, she knew Lucille would follow her, and as much as she was grateful towards Lucille for everything she'd done for her since last night, right now Lucille was the last person she wanted to see.

Lucille just wouldn't leave her alone, she knew she was just trying to be helpful, but Gabriella didn't really see what help she could be given, her grandparents are both dead, she has no family left, what help out there for her is there?

She'd sat herself down at the top of the steps that led from the back porch, down into the back garden. She was going to keep going, go and sit under the big tree they had in the garden, but she couldn't make it that far, her legs had given out on her where she was, right when the tears began to fall. She hadn't cried at all since the accident, even the pain in her wrist didn't seem to bother her. She was in too much shock, with too much going on around her. But now, as she sat alone on the steps and was able to collect her thoughts, reality set in, and the tears began to fall.

She sat on the top step, her knees pulled to her chest, her chin resting on them and her tears blurring her vision, until a blanket was draped round her shoulders. She didn't look up, she just expected it to be Lucille, so she pulled the blanket tightly around herself and continued to stare off into space.

It was a few minutes later, when she hadn't yet heard Lucille's voice, that she turned round to see who it was.

"Troy?" She asked, wondering what he was doing standing a few feet away from her.

"That's me, sorry if I startled you I didn't mean to, mind if I sit?" Troy asked.

Gabriella shook her head. "Go ahead, you are Troy, right?"

Troy nodded as he sat down. "I wouldn't have said that's me if I wasn't, would I? Besides there's only me and Sam when it comes to boys, you've got a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right; it's the girls you'll have fun with."

"Yeah, I'm confused already; the older two are identical, right?"

"Yep, Jessie and Jazzy as we call them, you'll get there eventually; they don't look as alike as they used to. Amber and Lillie are easier to tell apart."

"Yeah I think I'm okay with them, they seem to adore you though."

"Yeah, I don't know why though," Troy laughed to himself. "Are you okay? Stupid question I know, but you were crying and I've already had Jazzy cry on me today, I seem to be attracted to upset people today."

Gabriella sighed and let more tears fall, Troy knew she was upset now, there was no point in trying to hide it.

"Okay, you're obviously not okay, but I really have no idea what to say. I'm so sorry Gabriella; I can't begin to imagine what you're going through right now."

"It's okay, I'm still trying to figure it out myself," Gabriella responded, as her teeth began to chatter because she was cold, due to her only wearing a t-shirt and some shorts.

"Is it okay if I give you a hug? If we're gonna sit out here, at least let me help you stay warm."

"A hug would be nice thanks, I couldn't cope inside, there were just too many people for me to cope with."

"It's okay," Troy said, as he wrapped his right arm round Gabriella and gently pulled her so that she was now leaning against him, her head eventually resting on his shoulder. "We aren't together that often, mainly only at meal times, Dad called a house meeting to tell us about you, otherwise you probably wouldn't have met Jessie yet, she'd still be coming home from school."

"Yeah what's with her? It's like you were all sat together cuddled up and she was by herself texting."

"Yeah, she's not talking to Jazzy; it's all her own fault though. Jazzy is really upset about it, she hasn't even done anything and then her twin stops talking to her, she's just a bit shocked, they've always been close, but recently Jessie's been drifting off with other people. We were gonna have a Troy and Jazzy night tonight, but I'm not sure if we'll be allowed anymore, cause you here, and we're sharing a room and such, a bet you're tired, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I won't be able to sleep though, I'll just lay there and think, I just need somewhere quiet to go, seems that'll be hard in your house."

Troy smiled. "It can be, but if you're willing to trust me I can take you somewhere quiet."

"Yeah that'd be nice, thanks Troy, it's been nice to talk to you and not your Mum, she's the only person I've talked to since the accident, and even then I didn't say very much, I feel kinda bad now."

"It's okay she'll understand, she always does, she's great like that. Now come on, I'll take you somewhere quiet." Troy said, as he stood up and held a hand out to Gabriella. Hesitantly she took hold of his hand and allowed him to lead her back into the house, his hand not once leaving hers, constantly giving her the reassurance she'd been searching for.

**TGTGTGTG**

Jack and Lucille didn't say anything as the back door opened and Troy and Gabriella walked back in hand in hand. They knew Troy had obviously done something pretty amazing for Gabriella to trust him enough to be holding his hand, but they didn't comment, they could tell Troy was on a mission.

They watched as he led Gabriella through the kitchen and into the hallway and then to their amazement he opened the basement door and led her down the stairs. They shared confused looks, but didn't even attempt to ask Troy what he was up to, they knew he'd come back up and explain in his own time.

They continued clearing round the kitchen and keeping an eye on their younger four, for a few more minutes until footsteps were heard and Troy appeared in the kitchen doorway.

"Care to explain?" Jack asked, as he finished putting away the last few things from the dishwasher.

Troy shrugged. "She didn't want to be in the house because it was too much for her, so she went outside where it was quiet, but she got cold and just wanted somewhere quiet to be. I told her if she trusted me I could take her somewhere quiet, she said she did, so I took her down to the basement, it's quiet down there."

The basement was Troy's place, somewhere he and his friends could go to get away from the mayhem of the household. The basement wasn't originally his, but when he began to bring friends home and they went to play video games in his room, nine times out of ten they were disrupted by the younger Bolton's. So, Troy was given the basement on the condition that he kept it clean and tidy and in return none of his siblings were allowed down there, unless Troy said otherwise.

"That's really good of you Troy, is she okay?" Lucille asked, pleased that Troy had been able to get through to Gabriella.

"I think so, I'm not really sure, and I don't think she knows either, that's why I took her down there, she wanted somewhere quiet to go and just think. "

"I'm not surprised, she's been through a lot to take it all in at once, did you want me to come and speak to her?"

"No, she's fine Mum she feels bad for ignoring you at the hospital as it is, I told her you'd understand though. I just came up to find her some warmer clothes, she's really cold, I'm gonna see if Jazzy's got some sweat she can borrow, I reckon they're about the same size."

"Yeah I'd say so," Lucille answered. "Just be careful Troy, Jessie blew off in her face about Jenna and Jemma being better to be with. I've only let her go to the sleep over so they could be apart, it think that'll be best for everyone, especially Gabriella."

"Yeah, I don't think she'd appreciate the shouting, she's already picked up on something not being right. Is Jazzy upset then?"

"Yeah, I think she was crying, but she went and sat in the quiet room while Jessie went to get her things, then she went upstairs, she wouldn't let me see her face, so I'm pretty convinced she was crying, reckon you can deal with that again?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, I'm gonna sleep on the floor tonight and then Gabriella and Jazzy can share my bed, if that's okay with Gabriella of course, if not I'm sure Jazzy will sleep on the floor as well, I don't think she'll want to be by herself tonight."

"I think you're right there Troy, just keep them both as happy as they can be right now and you're doing something right. Thank you though Troy, you've really helped me out."

"It's nothing Mum, I care is all, I'm gonna go and find Jazzy and probably take her down to meet Gabriella again, I think they'll get on really well, call us when dinner's ready?"

"Will do son." Troy gave his parents a quick hug, before heading upstairs to try and find Jazzy so he could cheer her up for the second time in one day, today just wasn't going well for her.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy stuck his head round Jessie and Jazzy's bedroom door, fully expecting to see Jazzy curled up on her bed crying, but she wasn't, the room was completely empty.

As he carried on along the corridor that led to his bedroom he realised his bedroom door was open, he always shut it and if one of his parents went in, they always shut it as well, all bedroom doors were kept shut in the Bolton household, it's just how it was.

That's when it dawned on him, Jazzy was in his room, that's where she always went when she was really upset, more to the point she'd be on his balcony, the only one in the house.

Walking into his bedroom he found his balcony doors open and Jazzy standing there, staring off into space.

"Jaz? You're not crying on me again are ya?" Troy asked, as he went out to join Jazzy on his balcony.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that? If you have I'll leave, I just thought seeing as my twin has pretty much ditched me I could rely on you to cheer me up, but apparently not." Jasmine said, as she turned to leave, but stopped when Troy caught her by the arm.

"You know I don't want to leave, stop being silly, I need your help anyway." Troy said, as he pulled his still crying sister into a hug.

"Yeah? What with?"

"Looking after Gabriella, she needs some friendly faces, and in case you haven't noticed, I haven't exactly got the best looking face, although she hasn't seemed to have noticed. Anyway, have you got any sweats she can borrow? She's really cold."

"Yeah sure, what about a hoodie or something?"

"Nah, she can borrow one of my wildcat ones, go grab those sweats and I'll meet you at the top of the stairs." Troy told Jasmine, as he gave her one last tight squeeze.

"And Jaz," Troy waited until she turned to look at him. "Please stop crying, we're gonna enjoy our four days off okay, an enjoying them means no crying, got it?"

Jasmine nodded and managed to smile slightly at Troy, before turning back around and heading towards her room.

A few moments later and the pair were heading back down stairs and then down the stairs that led to the basement.

"I feel so special coming down here, thanks Troy."

Troy laughed at Jasmine's excitement. "No problem kiddo. Hey Gabriella, you awake?"

Gabriella was curled up on the couch with the blanket draped over her and her eyes closed, and it wasn't obvious whether she was asleep or not. But the problem was soon solved when she opened her eyes to look at Troy.

"Yeah I'm awake, I was just trying to think, it's nice and quiet down here, thanks Troy."

"Will people stop thanking me, I care is all. Anyway, Gabriella, this one is Jazzy, you okay with her being here? She's a bit upset and it's kinda hard for me to cheer you both up when you're in different places."

Gabriella smiled softly as she sat up. "It's fine Troy, you seem to be the quiet one Jazzy, I like quiet people, and for the record, your twin will come round, it'll just take her a while to realise she needs you more."

Jasmine smiled as she took a seat next to Gabriella. "Thanks Gabi, is it okay to call you that?"

"Its fine, Gabriella is kinda long."

Jasmine smiled."It's a pretty name though, anyway these are for you," Jasmine said, as she handed Gabriella the sweats she found for her. "Troy said you were cold and I haven't worn these in a while, so you can have 'em."

"Thanks," Gabriella said, as she took the bottoms from Jasmine and then started to look between them and Troy, something Jasmine managed to pick up on.

"Troy, give me the hoodie them go and find out what's for dinner, I'm hungry." Troy sighed, but gave Jasmine the hoodie before heading upstairs, suddenly realising why she'd gotten him to leave.

"Thanks Jazzy," Gabriella said quietly as she began to slip on the borrowed clothing.

"No problem, he was in a world of his own, he hadn't figured why I wanted him to go instead of going myself, I think he'll of worked it out by now though."

Gabriella laughed as she slipped Troy's hoodie over her head. "It's okay now anyway, I'm changed."

"Good, you mind if the telly's on, or you want it to be silent down here?"

"Nah, you can put the telly on, I can't think anyway, there's way too much to think about." Gabriella answered, as she settled herself back against the couch and pulled the blanket back over herself, realising that maybe being here wasn't going to be that bad after all.

**TGTGTGTG**

Jasmine stretched out her whole body, as the movie finished and Troy got up to take the DVD out of the player. Between them, Gabriella and Jasmine had decided on watching _'The Simpsons Movie,' _one they decided would make them laugh and smile, even if just for a bit.

"Alright you two, time for bed, it's late enough as it is," Troy said, as he put the DVD back in its box and placed it on his desk to take back down to the basement with the rest of his collection.

"Can I stay in here tonight Troy? I don't wanna be by myself." Jasmine said, as she and Gabriella stood up to stretch their legs.

"Yeah, I thought you'd ask, so I'll take the floor if you two are okay to share my bed, it is a double."

"That's okay with me, I can get my duvet and use that so Gabi can use yours, that alright with you Gabi?"

"I honestly don't mind sleeping on the floor, it's where I'm gonna be for a bit."

"No you're not," Troy responded. "I'll sleep on the floor, you can't sleep on the hard floor with your injuries, and even if you weren't injured I'd still take the floor, it's just the way it is."

"Well if you're sure Troy, then I'm fine to share the bed with you Jazzy, although getting your duvet is probably a good idea, I tend to burrow under mine, I doubt you'd get any if we shared."

Jasmine laughed. "Yeah, I do that, I'll go get my duvet, I won't be long." Jasmine said, as she yawned before walking out of the room, leaving Troy and Gabriella alone.

"You alright?" Troy asked, Gabriella, as he began to set up the extra blankets and sleeping bag Lucille and left for him to use as a make shift bed.

"What if I can't sleep Troy? I'm so unbelievably tired, but every time I close my eyes it all comes flashing back."

"It's really late now Gabi, I reckon you're more tired than you think, just snuggle down under the covers and rest your eyes, you'll probably drift off quicker than you think."

"But what if I don't? I don't wanna wake up Jazzy with all my tossing and turning." Gabriella said, as she took a seat on the left side of the bed, the side she wanted to sleep on and the side that she'd discovered smelt soothingly like Troy, just like his hoodie, she had yet to take off.

Troy finished what he was doing and went to sit next to Gabriella. "Okay I'll do you a deal, if you wake up then you can wake me up and I'll talk to you or hug you, or whatever you feel like, okay? But you need to at least try and go to sleep first, alright?"

"Are you sure? I don't wanna disturb you or Jazzy."

"Gabi you won't, Jazzy's tired herself out from crying today and it takes a lot to wake her up as it is. And I'm a light sleeper, so you won't have to shout at me to wake me up. Do we have a deal?"

Gabriella nodded. "Thanks Troy."

"It's okay, but I think you should get yourself settled before Jazzy comes back, she may be small, but she takes up a lot of room."

"Hey I heard that!" Jasmine exclaimed, as she came back into the room, her duvet in her arms.

"I know, that was the point. Just get yourselves comfy will ya, I wanna go to sleep."

Jasmine stuck her tongue out at Troy, while Gabriella reluctantly took off Troy's hoodie and placed it behind her pillows, before getting under her covers and snuggling down, allowing Jasmine to do the same.

"Alright ladies, if you want me, either of you, just wake me up and I'll look after ya, now if you don't mind I'm tired, as I reckon you both are, so sleep and we'll see what tomorrow brings us."

"Troy, just shut up and go to sleep please, some of us are getting bored of your voice." Jasmine said, as she turned off the light, before settling down properly under her duvet.

"I love you too little sister, I love you too." Troy muttered, before rolling over with a loud huff.

Gabriella smiled to herself, as she quietly grabbed Troy's hoodie from behind her pillows and cuddled it to her chest, before allowing the much needed sleep to take over her body, realising that maybe, just maybe, although it was going to be a slow process, everything was going to be alright, as long as she didn't need to do it alone.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is people, the first chapter of What I've Been Looking For, I hope you liked it!**

**This one's a long one, and if you'd like me to continue, then they probably won't all be this long.**

**Anyway:**

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	2. Meeting the Gang

**Here's the next chapter for you guys!**

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**Zanessastories1225788 – Thanks for the help with everything, this one's for you! You are amazing!**

Meeting the Gang

Troy stretched his body and rolled onto his back, fully expecting to see Gabriella as the source of his name calling, so he was surprised to see his sister there instead.

"Hey Jaz, what's up?" Troy asked, as he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Sorry Troy, but its Gabi, she's really restless and is muttering stuff in her sleep, she's kinda scaring me." Troy sat up and looked over to his bed to find that Gabriella was indeed thrashing around and he could hear her muttering.

"Alright Jazzy, I'll wake her up, would you be okay going back to your room for the rest of the night? I'll make it up to you, but if you're in here I think Gabi will worry about you seeing her upset and in a state, I'm betting she'll be in, so do you mind?"

"Its fine Troy, I'll get you to take me shopping at some point, I'll see you in the morning, good luck." Jazzy said, referring to Gabriella's worsening thrashing, as she stood from the floor, grabbed her duvet and quietly made her way back to her room, leaving Troy and Gabriella once again alone.

Pushing himself up from the floor, Troy made his way over to the side of the bed Gabriella had chosen to sleep on, the side that he hadn't failed to notice was the side he usually slept on. He sat down on the side of the bed and braced himself by putting his left arm over Gabriella and leaning on the mattress. Gabriella must have felt his presence, he noted, as she immediately began to calm down and now only her soft muttering and slight jolts now and then were any indication of her not sleeping peacefully.

"Gabi, Gabriella. You need to wake up, it's just a dream, come on, you need to wake up." He didn't want to shout at her, not only would that wake up the rest of the house, but it'd probably just scare her more than she already seemed to be. So, he opted for speaking normally, knowing whispering wouldn't have the desired effect.

Slowly, after he'd spoken some more encouraging words and moved some hair out of her face, Gabriella woke up. She shot up in bed, breathing heavily and clutching Troy's hoodie to her chest.

"It's okay," Troy spoke softly, as he placed his hands on her shoulders, in an attempt to comfort and reassure her.

"W-where am I?"

"You're in my room, I'm Troy, you remember?" Gabriella nodded her head gently and slowly looked around the room; seemingly remembering her surroundings from the previous day.

Then it seemed to hit her, Troy wasn't sure if it was the dream or the memories of reality, but Gabriella broke down. The tears began to steadily stream from her eyes and her sobs became louder as everything seemed to crash down on her at once.

Troy sighed, knowing this moment was bound to come at some point, as he turned himself so that he was sitting next to Gabriella properly on the bed. He wrapped his right arm round her, and just like he had in the garden, he gently laid her head against his shoulder.

"Shhh Gabi, you're okay, you're alright honey, shhh."

"Troy?" Looking up, Troy found his mother standing in the doorway. "Is everything alright? I heard Jazzy when she went back to her room, she told me Gabi was restless and that you were gonna wake her up, is she okay?"

"No, you should probably come in, you're better at things like this than I am," Troy said; as he tightened his arm round Gabriella.

"I doubt that honey, there isn't much you can really do in situations like these, by holding her she knows you're there, and right now that's all that matters to her," Lucille said, as she came and sat on the side of the bed Jazzy had been sleeping on, so that she was facing the young pair.

"Yeah I guess you're right Mum, you can go back to bed if you want, I think I'm alright here."

Lucille nodded at Troy, but turned her attention towards Gabriella before leaving. "Gabi? Is that okay with you? If Troy looks after you? Or would you like me to stay and him to go?"

"T-troy can s-stay, you c-can go," Gabriella whispered, as sleep slowly started to make her eye lids heavy again.

"Okay sweetie, if that's what you want, I'll head back to bed, but if you need me come and get me Troy, alright?"

"Alright Mum, night," Lucille gave the pair a quick hug, before getting up from the bed and leaving Troy to care for Gabriella.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, Troy gently rubbing his hand up and down Gabriella's right arm, and Gabriella clutching his hoodie to her chest, as her sobs and tears slowly started to fade away.

"Gabi, we should try and get some more sleep, do you want me to go back to the floor?"

"No, could you stay here with me please?"

"Yeah 'course I can, you need to slide over a bit though so I can fit on, I'll fall off otherwise," Gabriella nodded slightly, before moving over to the middle of the bed, and it was only then that Troy noticed it was his hoodie she had cuddled to her chest. He smiled to himself, as Gabriella unravelled some of his duvet from around herself and allowed him to slide into bed with her. He'd given her that hoodie to keep her warm, but apparently it gave her more than that, and he was willingly to let her have it if it comforted her as much as this.

"How do you wanna do this honey? It's completely up to you," Troy spoke gently to Gabriella, as he lay back in bed, and watched her sit and stare at the wall opposite.

"C-could you maybe h-hold me? My G-grandpa always used to do t-that when I had a n-nightmare, is t-that okay w-with you?"

"'Course it is Gabi, you need to lay down first though," Gabriella looked back at Troy, to see him laying there patiently with open arms, so slowly but surely she leant back and settled herself in his arms, her head resting on his chest, his hoodie still very much in her grasp.

"Gabi?" Troy knew she was tired, but he just wanted to let her know this one thing before she drifted off again.

"Y-yeah," Gabriella stuttered, not due to her crying but due to a yawn that escaped her mouth as she spoke.

"The hoodie, you can keep it. It doesn't really fit me anymore and you seem to find some comfort in it, so it's yours if you want it."

"Thanks Troy, that's really kind of you," Gabriella whispered, as sleep grasped her back into its depths and she was soon breathing evenly again.

Troy sighed, as he realised Gabriella was finally back asleep, she needed it, he knew that for sure. He couldn't even begin to comprehend what she'd been through in her life, let alone in the last couple of days.

The last thought he had, as sleep began to grasp him as well, was that he wanted to look after and protect Gabriella, and he'd do whatever it took to do that.

**TGTGTGTG**

She hadn't woken up this content in a long time and she was determined to stay like this for as long as possible.

"I know you're awake you know?"

"Don't care, I'm comfy," Gabriella replied, as she began to open her eyes, but then covered her face with Troy's hoodie when she realised he was looking at her.

"Don't hide away from me, you look fine," Troy said; as he cuddled her close to keep her warm.

"You were watching me."

"I'm sorry; I haven't been awake for that long and looked so peaceful compared to when you woke up."

Gabriella removed the hoodie from over her face and smiled up at Troy. "Thanks for that, I wasn't really with it at all, I just needed to be held, so thank you. When did Jazzy leave?"

"Just before I woke you up. You woke her up, with all your mumbling and rolling around, so she woke me up and I sent her back to her room, so stop you feeling bad, cause I thought you would do and then I came over and woke you up."

"Thank you, I would've felt bad for waking her up as well, was she okay with you asking her to leave?"

"Yeah, she said she'll just get me to take her shopping, which I can deal with so it's okay. I might take her today, you wanna come?"

"I don't know Troy, I'm not sure I'm ready to leave the house yet, I kinda just wanna stay in bed."

"Na, you don't wanna do that, it'll be really loud her anyway. Lillie and Amber may be going to school, but Dad's staying here with Sam and Sophie today, it'll be crazy. Besides, I'm meeting up with my friends; I think it'd be nice for you to meet them before you join us at school, that way you'll know everyone already."

"I don't know Troy; would it be okay with Lucille?"

"I can't see why not, but if it'll make you feel better we'll go and ask her, how about that?"

Gabriella nodded silently and allowed Troy to unravel himself from around her, before helping her out of the bed and leading her downstairs, effectively breaking them out of their peaceful bedroom bubble.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Okay, so have you got enough money for all three of you?"

"Yes Mum, stop worrying okay?"

"I'm allowed to be worried Troy, Gabi's still really fragile."

"Don't you think I know that Mum, she trusts me and Jazzy, we'll look after her, do we need to buy her anything or are you going to hers and getting all of her stuff?"

"Yeah, I'm heading over there today with a colleague, we're just gonna pack everything up to bring back here and then it's down to Gabi whether she wants to keep it or not, so I don't think you need to buy her anything."

"Buy who what?" Jazzy asked, as she and Gabriella cam down from getting changed.

"Wow look at you two," Troy commented, as he opened the baby gate to let the girls come off of the stairs." You could practically pass as twins."

Jazzy stuck her tongue out at Troy, as she leant on Lucille to put on her purple flats.

"Troy stop teasing the girls, it's really nice of Jazzy to let Gabi borrow some of her clothes, they suit you Gabi ignore him. To answer you question Jazzy, troy had asked me if you guys needed to pick up anything for Gabi while you're out, but I said no because me and a colleague are heading over to her house today to pack up her things and bring them back here, then it'll be up to Gabi what she keeps and what she doesn't, that okay with you Gabi?"

Gabriella shrugged. "I guess."

"No, not you guess, don't go all quiet on me honey, what's up?"

Gabriella wouldn't answer Lucille, nor would she look at anyone, all of a sudden her feet looked so interesting.

"Alright honey, you don't have to say anything right now, but if when you're out, you see something you need, you tell Troy and he'll buy it and then I'll pay him back, that okay with you both?"

"Sure is Mum, Jazzy why don't you two go and get in the car, I'll be out in a minute," Troy said, as he handed Jazzy his car keys.

"Okay, bye Mum," Jazzy said, as she gave Lucille a hug and kiss goodbye.

"See you later sweetie, and Gabi? Don't forget what I just said, alright?"

Gabriella nodded silently, before following Jazzy outside to Troy's car.

"I know Mum, I told you we'll look after her."

"I know you will sweetie, but there's obviously something she wants, I'm no sure if it's embarrassing or she just doesn't want you to spend your money, but either way just buy it for her and I'll pay you back, okay?"

"_Yes_ Mum, we'll be fine," Troy said, as he stepped forward to give Lucille a hug and kiss goodbye. "I'm going now, have a good day."

"Bye sweetie," Troy turned and waved as he headed out the door, before shutting it behind him and heading over to the girls in his car.

"Alright ladies," Troy said, as he slid into the drivers seat. "Where we heading first, we aren't meeting the other 'til lunch time."

"We need to go to some kind of electronics shop," Jasmine spoke up from the back seat. "Gabi would like to look at the mobiles and MP3 players, hers got lost in the crash."

"Okay, well if we park in the mall car park they have all shops so we'll be okay. Is that why you went quiet inside Gabi? Cause you didn't wanna ask directly for something?"

"They aren't exactly things you ask for straight out though, are they? They aren't exactly cheap either." Gabriella said, from her place in the front next to Troy, who had just pulled the car out into the road.

"Well, because you've mentioned it, we'll buy you a mobile and an MP3 player, make sure we get receipts _and then_, Mum will pay me back 'cause she can claim the money from some department at work, its okay Gabi, don't worry."

"Okay, now that that has been sorted out, put the radio on and shut up will ya Troy?" Jazzy asked, from the middle of the back seat.

"Yes Mum," Troy answered, as he conveniently stopped at traffic light and was able to turn the radio on to shut Jazzy up.

"Happy?" Troy asked, as the light turned green and he continued the journey.

"Perfectly," Jasmine answered, as she leant back against the seat and closed her eyes.

Troy rolled his eyes at his sister, while Gabriella relaxed back against her seat, realising that today wasn't going to be that bad after all.

**TGTGTGTG**

Chad and Taylor had told the others in their group that Gabriella was with Troy and that they just needed to be gentle with her and she'd be fine.

Troy had phoned them that morning and explained about Gabriella and Jasmine, and had asked if it was okay for them to come today as well, he wanted to keep them both close.

The couple had agreed, knowing how close Troy and Jasmine were, and also how frightened some of the children that Lucille brought home could be.

What they hadn't expected to see was Jazzy approaching them in the dining hall alone.

"Hey Jazzy, where's the others?" Taylor asked, as Chad got up to take some of her shopping bags from her.

"Outside, some idiot bumped into Gabi, so she apologised, but he just turned, grabbed her by the neck and pushed her against a wall. Security was nearby so they grabbed him and kicked him out of the mall, but she's really shaken."

"Bless her, are you okay sweetie?" Taylor asked Jazzy, as she took a seat next to her, while Chad sat back down on her other side.

"Yeah I'm fine, it was kinda scary, but I'm just worried about Gabi, she was doing so well, we'd just brought her a new phone and MP3 player as well."

"Well I'm sure Troy can calm her down, from what he said on the phone it seems he's been doing pretty well at that recently, you and Jessie speaking yet?"

Jazzy shock her head, "No, she went to a sleep over, she was being really bitchy towards me, so Mum said she could go, just to separate us for a bit, who knows when she'll start talking to me again though."

"I'm sure she'll come round," Taylor said, as she swatted Chad's hand away from her fries. "Oh, Troy and Gabi are coming in, must be good right?"

Everyone looked over to the entrance of the hall to see that Troy and Gabriella were indeed making their way in. Gabriella still looked shaken and Troy did have his arm wrapped round her waist, but she had stopped crying, and that was the main thing.

"Hey guys," Troy greeted, as they sat down, his arm, still firmly wrapped round Gabriella's waist. "Sorry about that, just one of those things. But were here now 'cause someone's stomach started going against her saying she _was_ hungry, so we had to come in."

"You want me to go and get food Troy," Jazzy offered, feeling kinda hungry herself.

"Yeah please Jaz, I'll have my usual and Gabi will have the same," Troy replied, as he got his wallet out of his pocket and gave it to her, letting her give Gabriella a quick hug before she went to the fast food restaurant.

"Alright, introductions, guys this is Gabriella or Gabi as we call her. Gabi, this is Chad and Taylor, they're all loved up. Next to them is Sharpay and Zeke, they're all loved up _as well_. And after them is Sharpay's twin Ryan and his partner Kelsi, they're loved up _as well_."

"You make it out to be such a big deal to be in a relationship," Ryan said to Troy, who simply shrugged.

"You try being me, with you guys making out around me all of the time and _then_ tell me it's nice to watch Evans."

Gabriella laughed, as the banter around her, but stayed quiet; she didn't really wanna speak right now, and would've continued to beg Troy to take her home, if her stomach hadn't of rumbled and gone against her saying that she wasn't hungry.

"Okay, grub's up," Jasmine announced, as she came back with a tray of food and placed it in the middle of the table, so that they could reach it from both sides of the table. "Oh and here's your wallet Troy, thanks."

"No problem Jaz, just eat it all or you can pay me back for what you don't eat." Troy threatened, as he gave Gabriella her lunch, knowing she'd slowly get round to eating it.

"It's okay Jaz I'll eat it for ya," Chad volunteered, as he started on yet his second burger making everyone, including Gabriella laugh at him.

"We'll go home after we've eaten this Gabi," Troy whispered gently to her, knowing anything sudden or loud would freak her out.

"It's okay Troy, I know you wanna see your friends for a bit," Gabriella replied, as she slowly started to eat her burger.

"They won't mind, but lets eat this and then decide, okay?" Gabriella nodded, as she took another bite from her burger and unnoticeably moved herself closer to Troy. The nearer to him she was, the safer she felt, and right now all she wanted was to feel safe.

**TGTGTGTG**

"I thought I'd find you down here." Troy said, as he made his way down into the basement to find Gabriella curled up on one of he couches.

Gabriella didn't respond, just kept staring at the blankly at telly, which was on some random channel.

"Gabi? What's up sweetie?" Troy was now concerned, as he walked over and crouched down in front of the end of the couch were Gabriella was lying.

"It hurts." Gabriella practically whimpered.

"What does honey?"

"My wrist." Gabriella replied, as she let a few tears slide down her face.

"Did you take your medication when we came back?" Troy asked, as he pushed some of Gabriella's hair out of her eyes.

Gabriella simply nodded as the tears came on thicker and faster.

"I honestly don't know what to say then, I know it hurts, I've fractured my wrist in that way before," Troy said, as he continued to let his fingers run through Gabriella's hair, something that seemed to be calming her.

"I could offer you a hug though, would that help?" Gabriella nodded silently, before sitting up enough for Troy to sit down and pull her onto his lap, something that didn't bother her one bit, as she cuddled herself as close to him as possible.

"You'll be okay honey; we'll get you through it together I promise."

Gabriella didn't respond, but cuddled herself closer to Troy. Enjoying the warmth and comfort he gave her.

Troy smiled down at Gabriella, knowing he wasn't gonna get much of a conversation out of her, and that right now, him holding her was the only thing she wanted.

But, he _was_ going to look after her; he _was_ going to help her get through this, he just knew it wasn't going to be an easy ride. They'd have many more moments like this, where Gabriella wouldn't talk and just wanted to be held, but he knew that as long as she trusted him, they'd get there eventually, slowly, but surely.

**TGTGTGTG**

**That was really bad guys, I'm sorry, I wanted it to be better, but that's what came out, so please try and convince me it isn't so bad.**

**If you've got anything you wanna see in the story, let me know, or you've got any questions you need answering, let me know!**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE,**_** PLEASE**_** REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	3. Help Me?

**Here's the next chapter for you guys, enjoy!**

**The response to this story has been amazing and has made me so happy, so thank you all so so much :) Please keep them coming!**

**Charli – Stop thanking me, I do it because I care, that's as simple as it gets :) :) :) **

Help Me?

Troy sat on the couch, Jasmine's feet resting in his lap, holding an ice back on her right ankle, as Jazzy tried her best not to cry.

Troy had slept in his bed with Gabriella that night, he hadn't held her, but she said she wanted him close, and if him being close made her feeling safe, then he'd do it.

Troy had woken up before Gabriella this morning though, and after some of Jack's amazing pancakes for breakfast, Jazzy had challenged him to a game of one on one, a challenge he wasn't about to back down from.

The pair had had a great time playing, and Jack had even come out for a quick ten minute game before he had to go and get ready to take the four youngest Bolton's out for the day. They'd had a really great bonding time, playing the game Jazzy knew meant so much to Troy, and she's even picked up some basketball tips off of her brother along the way.

Although they had been scoring the game and Troy had in no way been going easy on Jasmine, they'd still been having a lot of fun as well, and weren't exactly playing to the rules.

They had been playing near on forty five minutes when Troy decided it was time to wind down the game and challenged Jasmine to a game of who could get the ball through the net from the furthest away.

It was Jasmine's shot from centre court that landed her in her current situation. She'd gotten every basket so far, but as she launched this shot, she had to jump higher and upon landing again, landed slightly off balance, causing her ankle to twist under her and her to fall to the ground clutching it.

That was when Troy had called things to a stop, throwing the ball to the side near the fence to collect later and then gently picking his sister up; to take her inside for some much needed medical attention.

Troy had carried Jasmine inside and taken her through to the living room, where he found Lucille tidying up, so while he sat down with Jazzy, Lucille went straight into 'nurse' Mum mood.

That was what had led to them being where they were now. Lucille had found an ice pack and instructed Troy to hold it on Jazzy's ankle while she went in search of painkillers for her daughter.

"Troy it hurts," Jasmine whined, as she fell back against the couch so that she was now laying down with her feet in Troy's lap, her arm had gone up to cover her eyes, in a hope to hide her hurt from her brother.

"I know Jazzy and I'm sorry, I should've never of said we should do that, I know you're not that sporty."

"It's alright Troy, it isn't your fault I agreed to it and besides, I got the ball through the hoop didn't I?"

"That you did, Jaz, that you did," Troy replied, as he ran a soothing hand up and down Jasmine's leg to comfort her and try to ease the pain which he was sure was emanating up her leg.

"Here sweetie, sit up and take these," Lucille said, as she walked back into the room with a glass of water and two tablets.

Jasmine eased herself up and let Lucille sit behind her as a resting post while she slowly took the tablets and settled back against the comfort that was her Mum.

"What if it gets worse Mum?" Jasmine asked, as Lucille wrapped her arms round her and Jasmine finally let her emotions from the accident come free.

"Then we'll deal with that _if_ it happens, but I think it's just a sprain honey, rest it for a bit and you'll be fine. When your Dad gets back we can get him to strap it up for you, alright?"

Jasmine nodded and allowed herself to settle into Lucille's embrace, something she didn't get to do all that often, as her younger siblings were usually in more desperate need of a hug than her. Jasmine's main hug supplier was Troy, always had been, always would be, even though they were both growing up, their hugs were something they'd always share.

"Where's Gabi Mum?" Troy asked, knowing she hadn't gone out with Jack and the little ones; she hadn't wanted to leave the house after yesterday's mall event.

"She's sat in the box room with all her stuff still in it's boxes around her. She's just sat there, in the middle of the floor, looking at it all; I don't think she knows where to start."

"Do you think she'd appreciate some help?"

"I would say so Troy, you've really managed to connect with her, I think you're just what she needs right now, something constant and stable."

Troy smiled a cocky grin. "I try," he admitted, earning him a pillow in the face from Lucille.

"Just stop being cocky young man and go help Gabi, but put that pillow under Jazzy's foot first will ya? We're gonna see what rubbish they have on telly on a Saturday morning." Troy smiled at his Mum and sister, knowing they were both enjoying there much need mother daughter time. So, he did as he was told and even passed them the remote, before heading upstairs to offer Gabriella his organisational services.

**TGTGTGTG**

She had no idea where to start, there were boxes everywhere and most of it would have to go.

The box room was small, making the amount of boxes look larger than it actually was, but even that didn't give Gabriella the inspiration to start.

She's been sitting here for nearly an hour now, hers and her Grandparent's belongings surrounding her, all boxed up, ready to be open and unlock memories, memories that would make her current situation come flooding back.

"Need any help?" Gabriella turned round and smiled when she found Troy leaning against the door frame.

"You could say that, how was basketball?"

"Yeah good thanks, until Jazzy twisted her ankle, she's fine, Mum's looking after her, I think it's just the shock of it all. So, can I come in?" Gabriella nodded and patted the floor next to her, indicating to Troy where she wanted him to sit.

"How long you been sitting here Brie?" Troy asked, as he got himself comfortable on the floor.

Gabriella shrugged, "Nearly an hour, I don't know where to start, why Brie?"

"Sorry, it just kinda slipped out, I won't do it again."

"No, it's fine, I like it." Gabriella replied, as she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, but not before pulling the hood of Troy's hoodie up, to cover her head and face, allowing her to hunch over and 'hide' from Troy.

"Hey, don't hide from me little missy, it ain't gonna make things go away, come on, come back please." Troy tried to gently pull the hood down, but Gabriella simply moved her grip from around her legs and onto the hood, effectively keeping it firmly where it was.

"Brie please, come on, we'll do this together, yeah it'll take a while, but we'll do it and you'll feel so much better afterwards, you might even find stuff you thought you'd lost."

Gabriella lifted her head from her knees, revealing to Troy the silent tears she'd been crying and making him feel bad for joking around.

Silently, Troy held his arms open towards Gabriella, not knowing if a hug was what she wanted right now, but was relieved when she accepted his offer and crawled across into his arms.

"Gabi honey I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, please stop crying. We will sort all of this out, and you'll feel so much better when we do, but we don't need to do it now, we'll take it slow and steady."

Gabriella sniffled and used the sleeve from the hoodie to wipe away her tears, as she lifted her head to look Troy in the eye. "Help me?" She asked.

"Brie you know I will, you don't even need to ask."

Gabriella shook her head and continued to wipe away her tears. "I mean with everything Troy. I'm a mess, this room is a mess, my whole life is a mess right now and I don't think I can get through it all alone, will you help me?"

Troy nodded silently. "If that's what you want then of course I will. I'm not qualified in this like Mum is, so I can't promise I'll always get things right, but if you want me help then I will."

"Even when I wake up crying?"

"Yep."

"Even when I'm a complete bitch towards you?"

"Yep, I've got teenage sisters; I'm used to that."

"Even when I come to you crying and don't know why?"

"Yep."

"Even with…sorting out my grandparents' funerals?"

"Yeah, we'll have to look to Mum and Dad for assistance, but yeah."

"Even when I start school and get picked on?"

"Why would that happen?" Troy asked, curious as to why she thought she'd get picked upon.

"I've always been picked on."

Troy shook his head. "Not at East High, we're a good bunch, and besides the gang and I wouldn't let it happen even if they tried to get to you."

"Even though I'm gonna be like this for a while?"

"_Yes!_ Gabriella? Why's it so hard for you to understand that I _will_ help you? I can't promise that I'll be any good at it, or that I'll always have the answers you're looking for, but I'll try, and if all else fails I can always give you a hug."

Gabriella had to smile at that one. "Thank you."

Troy shrugged. "You asked me for help didn't you? Now, do you want to make a start in here, or go and hang out with Mum and Jazzy?"

Gabriella shrugged. "I don't wanna start sorting everything out, not yet, but can we look for the boxes with my clothes in? I can't keep wearing Jazzy's clothes, she'll run out."

Troy smiled. "I think we could do that, it shouldn't be too hard and Mum was kind enough to label all of the boxes, so it shouldn't take to long. Okay, you start over there, I'll start over here and we should find them quickly, _hopefully_, they aren't under a load of stuff."

Gabriella smiled and gave her face and eyes one final wipe, to rid them of the tears before getting up to start the search for her clothes.

**TGTGTGTG**

Lucille watched her step as she walked down the stairs with a basket of dirty washing in her arms. Having a big family, meant there was a never ending supply of washing that needed to be done, especially when two of them were toddlers who got into everything and anything possible, and didn't care how dirty they got in the process.

She'd just made it through the house and into the utility room, when the door bell rang through the house, causing her to stop her loading of the washing machine and make her way back through to the front of the house.

Upon opening the door, Lucille found an nervous looking teenage boy. He was fairly tall, looked to be about the same age as Jessica and Jasmine, had dark brown hair and green eyes, that weren't to dissimilar to her own.

"Hi, can I help you?" Lucille had never met this boy before, but she was pretty sure she'd seen him play with Troy in basketball games she'd attended, and from what she'd been able to make out, he was very good for someone of his age, a sophomore, and that alone got him a lot of respect from Troy and the other seniors on the team.

"Mrs Bolton, my name's Jake, I'm in the same year as Jessica and Jasmine and I'm on the basketball team with Troy. I really just came over to see if Jasmine was okay. I saw her crying after school on Thursday, but she was with Troy so I didn't like to go over, but I know she doesn't like to cry and the fact that she was worried me, is she okay?"

"It's very kind of you to come over here and find out Jake, she's fine, but why don't you come in and find out for yourself? I'm sure she'd love to see you, she twisted her ankle this morning playing basketball with Troy, they're out back now 'cause the seniors are over, but I'm sure you'd be able to cheer her up a bit more than they already have, she's still a bit upset over things."

"Only if it's okay with you Mrs Bolton, I wouldn't want to intrude; I know you're a very busy person."

"It's fine Jake, my husband took my younger four out for the day and Jessie isn't here at the minute, so I'm just trying to get some housework done while it's quite and they're all out back, come on, come in." Lucille stood back and opened the door further, allowing Jake to come in, but not after he'd politely wiped his feet on the door mat.

"Like I said, they're out back, probably playing basketball; I'll take you out, follow me." Lucille said, as she gestured for Jake to follow her further into the house and out into the garden.

"Wildcats!" Lucille shouted across the garden, causing all movement and talking to stop, and attention to be sent her way. She'd learnt a long time ago, that the best way to get the seniors attention when they were all together was to call them by their school mascot's name, something they answered to daily at school.

"You all know Jake, he came over to see Jazzy, _not_ to play basketball with you boys, so be nice."

"We are nice Mrs B, especially because Jakey boy is such an asset to our team." Chad said, from his place in the middle of the court, his ball tucked under his arm as usual.

"I'm just saying, where is Jazzy anyway?" Lucille asked, noticing her daughter wasn't with the girls, who were sat round watching the boys play and probably gossiping as well.

"She's in my tree house Mum, I helped her up there when she said she wanted to be by herself for a bit, that was about fifteen twenty minutes ago, you can head up and see if she's okay if you want Jake." Troy offered.

"Are you sure? If she wanted to be alone…"

"Yeah, but us girls always say that when we're upset," Taylor spoke up. "So you should head up and see her, I think she'd like the company."

"Okay, I will, thanks guys, thank you Mrs Bolton." Jake said, as he made his way over to the tree and started climbing the ladder to see if Jasmine really did need some company.

**TGTGTGTG**

She didn't really want to be alone, she just didn't want to be all smiles and happy and watching the boys play basketball and chatting with the girls meant doing just that.

So, as she sat curled up in the corner, shaking as tears fell freely from her eyes, she didn't really care who's footsteps she could hear on the ladder.

"Jazzy? You okay?" That wasn't Troy, or any of the other seniors, _that_ was Jake, a boy in her year at school, what was he doing here?

"Jake? I'm fine, what are you doing here?" Jasmine asked, as she desperately tried to stop herself from crying.

"I saw you crying on Thursday after school and that worried me, but you were with Troy so I didn't come over, but I couldn't stop worrying, so my Mum told me to stop moping about and come and see if you were ok. Your Mum let me in and Troy and the others told me to come up, Taylor says that although you said you wanted to be alone you probably don't, but I can go if you want?"

"No," Jazzy shook her hear and sat up a bit straighter. "Please stay." Jake smiled softly at her, as he made his way over and sat down next to her, taking her varsity jacket off as he did, and slipping it round her shoulders as he sat down.

"Your Mum said you twisted your ankle this morning, how's it now?"

Jasmine shrugged. "It hurts, Dad's gonna strap it up when he gets back. Why are you here Jake?" Jasmine asked, as she started putting Jake's jacket on properly, in order to zip it up.

"Because I was worried about you, because I care about you and because I… I like you Jazzy."

"You like me?"

"Yeah I do, in more than a friend kinda way." Jasmine didn't say anything for a while, she didn't know what to say, this was all new to her, she liked Jake, but she didn't want to mess it up.

"Look, if you don't like me in that way I understand, I just needed to see if you were ok, I'll go," Jake said, as he got up to leave. "You can give the jacket back on Tuesday."

"No Jake, stay, please, I…I like you too, I…I've just never had a boy tell me this before."

Jake turned back round and knelt down in front of Jasmine. "I'm not exactly a pro at this myself, so we're even, okay?" Jasmine nodded and allowed Jake to take her hands into his to pull her up.

"Now, how about we go back down there and I'll make the lads happy and play a game with them, while you gossip with the girls. Who's the new girl?"

"Gabriella, Mum's known her for a while through work, but as of the other night she has no family left so she's staying here, I can't tell you much more, other than since Thursday Troy and her have grown a really big connection, something Mum says will help her. You know me and Jessie aren't talking right?"

"I'd noticed things weren't great between you two, what happened?"

"Stupid stuff, but I've done nothing wrong and now she isn't talking to me, that's why I was so upset on Thursday, she's completely ditched me for her new friends. She's with them now, been sleeping at one of their houses since Thursday. Mum and Dad know cause Troy told them we'd fallen out, they don't know everything though, I made Troy promise not to tell, I didn't wanna make things worse. You aren't gonna go now that you know I'm a pathetic little girl for getting upset over something like this, are you?"

"Never," Jake answered. "You are in no way pathetic Jazzy, the whole thing just makes me wanna get to know you more, and maybe sit with you during lunch at school on Tuesday?"

Jasmine nodded. "That's be nice, it's no fun sitting by yourself."

"It's sorted then, I'll meet you at your locker before lunch and we'll go from there, sound good?"

"Perfect."

"Fantastic, now come on. I know you're dying to tell the girls about this, right?"

Jasmine nodded and blushed, before the pair shared a quick hug and she then allowed Jake to help her get back down the ladder, all the while smiling because her long weekend off from school, had just gotten a whole lot better.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy walked down the corridor that lead to his bedroom, after he'd helped Jazzy to get settled in bed and had told her that if Jake made her smile this much, he could stick around.

He expected to find Gabriella already in bed, cuddled down with his hoodie and well on her way to sleep. Instead he found the box room door open and soft cries coming from within.

"Brie?" Troy asked, as he opened the door. "Brie, sweetie? What are you doing in here?"

Gabriella didn't answer, just continued to cry from her curled up foetal position on the floor. Troy sighed and made his way over to Gabriella, knowing that after the great afternoon she'd had, she was bound to come back to reality at some point, and it seemed that it had happened with a bump.

"Come here you, it's all gonna be okay, we'll get you through this, come on, come here." Troy managed to get Gabriella into his arms and simply sat there and rocked them from side to side, holding onto her as her cries only got louder.

"Troy? Everything okay?" Lucille had appeared in the doorway, apparently hearing Gabriella's cries from the other side of the house.

Troy just shook his head at his Mum and continued to rock Gabriella, already sensing he was in this for the long haul.

Lucille sighed and made her way over to the pair, kneeling down in front of them, she placed a hand on Gabriella's back and simply shushed her for the next ten minutes until her cries quietened down.

"Gabriella, I need you to look at me honey." Gabriella slowly lifted her head and looked Lucille in the eye.

"I-I'm s-sorry."

"Honey you have nothing to be sorry over, you're hurting, you're allowed to cry."

"I-I d-don't like c-crying."

"Not many people do honey, but sometimes it's better to cry than not to. I'm not gonna ask you loads of questions now, that's not fair, but you and me need to sit down and talk things over tomorrow, most importantly, your grandparents' funerals." Gabriella let out a sob and tightened her grip around Troy.

"We talked briefly about that earlier today Mum, Gabriella would like me to be there when you're organising things, to help out, if that's okay?"

"If that's what Gabriella wants then it's fine with me. We'll sit somewhere quiet, the three of us, and we'll look through your grandparents' wills to see if they had any wishes, but the rest is up to us Gabriella, alright?"

Gabriella nodded. "S-sorry, I-I'm such a m-mess."

"Honey I told you a minute ago, you have nothing to be sorry over, you hear me?" Gabriella nodded and closed her eyes, as more unwanted tears slipped out. "Now, how about Troy takes you to bed and the pair of you watch some telly? That's what Jazzy's doing."

Gabriella nodded again, but didn't open her eyes, so Troy gently stood up with her still in his arms, and after Lucille hugged them both, he headed through to his room.

"Okay, so any programme preferences?" Troy asked, once he and Gabriella where cuddled up in his bed, something he hadn't planned on, but had only happened because Gabriella wouldn't let go.

"N-nothing with h-hospitals in."

"Okay, lets see, there's gotta be something funny on. Oh, this will do," Troy said, settling his channel searching on some celebrity, reality nonsense.

"Troy?"

"Yeah sweetie?"

"Thank you."

"It's okay, I told you I'd help you and I hope I am, I just hate to see you crying, it hurts me as well."

"I don't like crying, but I don't think I'm gonna stop for a while, and that sucks."

"I know sweetie, but I'll be there, every single step of the way, whether you want me to be or not, we'll get you through this Gabriella."

"You think?"

"Yeah I do, I'm not gonna promise you, it's not that simple and you know it, but I can promise you _I'll_ be there with you all the way and we _will _get you through this, it's just gonna take time."

Gabriella nodded from her resting place on Troy's chest and for the next hour or so she simply let him hold her, while more dreaded tears fell.

She didn't like this, any of it, but she had Troy and she was pretty certain he'd be there all the way like he said, she just wished none of it had ever happened in the first place.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, hope you enjoyed it!**

**This weekend has been rough for me and I wouldn't have gotten through it without you. (You know who you are :p)**

**Make me smile guys and:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	4. Making it Through Together

**Here's the next chapter for you guys, I'm loving the response to this story, so thank you and enjoy!**

Making it Through Together

Troy shrugged his t-shirt over his head the next morning, as he left his en suite after taking his morning shower. Gabriella hadn't woken up when he'd gotten out of bed, something he was happy about, it had taken her a while to get to sleep last night, and even when she was finally asleep she was still tossing and turning most of the night.

After quickly running a comb through his hair, so that it looked half decent, he then turned his attention to the half a dozen small and medium sized boxes that were stacked up by the wall near his balcony.

The boxes were the ones that he and Gabriella had located yesterday, as the ones that contained her clothes. He'd taken them through to his room, so that when Gabriella needed them, she could get to them, without having to look at all of the boxes which brought back memories, memories that right now, she was finding impossibly hard to deal with.

It was gonna be a while before Gabriella could move into the box room, no matter how quickly they sorted out the boxes. The room hadn't been used in years except for storage and needed a good lick of paint and some furniture before it was anywhere near ready for Gabriella to move into.

It was at that moment, when Gabriella moved and tightened her grip on the pillow he'd placed in his place when he'd gotten up, that he decided that he would make her feel as much at ease as possible while she was in his room, and to start with, he'd find somewhere for, at least, a few of her clothes to be stored, other than in boxes.

So, after opening the curtains, just a little bit, Troy started about the task of moving his clothes around. Being a teenage boy, he wasn't exactly organised, but he knew where everything was, and he knew what he'd be able to move in order for Gabriella to have a place for her clothes.

Twenty minutes later, half of the hanging space in his wardrobe and two of his draws had been cleared and cleaned out ready for Gabriella's clothes. He was proud of the work he'd done in such a short amount of time and just as he was about to start moving Gabriella's clothes in, she started to become restless, but thankfully rather than having a nightmare, she slowly woke up.

"Morning," Troy greeted, as he sat down on the side of the bed next to Gabriella, who was combing her hands through her hair, in an attempt to make it look slightly less wild.

"Morning, what time is it?" Gabriella asked, as she settled herself back against the pillows which she'd organised against the headboard.

"Half nine," Troy responded looking at his alarm clock on the bedside table. "How'd you sleep?"

"Quite well actually, after I finally got to sleep that is."

"Well that's good then, I was expecting you to say badly, seeing as you were tossing and turning most of the night."

"Really? Sorry, I didn't keep you awake did I?"

"No, I was fine, I stayed awake a little longer after you fell asleep, just to make sure you were ok, but I once I was asleep, I was asleep. I didn't really notice until you moved out of my arms and you were rolling about, you settled down again quite quickly though."

"That's alright then, how long have you been awake?" Gabriella asked, as she massaged her left wrist with her right hand, the evidence of her restless night's sleep, coming through as pain in her wrist.

"Your wrist hurting?" Troy questioned, noticing Gabriella's pained expression and completely ignoring her question to him.

"Yeah, I probably rolled on it a lot last night; I'll take my medication when I have breakfast."

"By the expression on your face I'd say you _really_ want them now. So, why don't you go and jump in the shower and I'll pop downstairs and get your meds for you, sound good?"

"Yeah it does, thanks Troy." Gabriella responded, as Troy got up off of the bed, allowing her to get up and start her day.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy laughed at his youngest sister who was laughing and pointing at her twin, who was trying, very unsuccessfully, to fit as much banana in his mouth as possible.

"What's your brother trying to do hey Soph?" He asked, as he got up from his seat to clean up Sam, who had now spewed his banana up all over his high chair table, obviously deciding he didn't want banana anymore.

"Sam, nana." Sophie exclaimed, pointing at her twin brother and then his messed up banana.

"You got that one right Soph." Troy replied, as he ruffled her hair before cleaning up Sam's unwanted breakfast.

Troy had arrived downstairs to get Gabriella her tablets to find Lucille situating the younger four in front of the telly in the lounge and still in her night ware.

He'd found out that Jack had gotten ill over night and that Sam and Sophie had come in to wake them up. She'd brought them downstairs because Jack had finally gotten back to sleep and she didn't want them to wake him up.

After getting Amber and Lillie to keep and eye on Sam and Sophie, Troy had told Lucille to go back to bed and get some more sleep because she'd been up looking after Jack, and promised that as soon as he'd given Gabriella her meds for the morning he'd come back down to give them all breakfast.

So that's exactly what he'd done and after finding Gabriella already out of the shower and dressed, quicker than he'd ever be able to, he was able to give her, her meds and explain what was going on.

She's volunteered to go and see if Jazzy was up and offer her a hand because she wasn't exactly stable on her feet right now. Troy had double and then triple checked she was okay with this, and after her telling him she was _totally fine_, he let her head off to help Jasmine.

That was why now, ten minutes later, Troy was in the dining room with his younger four siblings and Jasmine and Gabriella were just making there way in.

"Jazzy!" Amber and Lillie exclaimed, as they got up from their seats and ran for their sister.

"Hey guys, how are you?" Jasmine asked, using a chair to lean on.

"Fine," Was the answer given in unison.

"Well that's good then, how about you sit back down and finish your breakfast and I'll come and have some as well?"

The girls nodded and sat back down in their seats, although both now wanted to sit next to Jasmine.

"Lillie, why don't you move across one and then I'll sit in the middle and be next to both of you?" The girls both liked his idea, and so after Lillie had moved across one and Jazzy was settled in her seat everyone was happy.

"You need any help Troy?" Gabriella asked, from her spot in the door way, the same place she'd been since she and Jazzy had arrived downstairs.

"Nope, I've got it, thanks Gabi," Troy replied, as he finished cleaning up Sam and his banana and left him to quietly munch his way through some reasonably sized pieces of fruit.

"Okay, well I'm not really hungry so I'm just gonna head back upstairs." Gabriella said and before anyone could reply she'd left the room.

Troy looked at Jasmine, who was looking back at him with the same look, something was up.

"You be alright with these?" Troy asked, as he grabbed some more toast from the kitchen and brought it back through for Jazzy to start on.

"Yeah I'll be fine, go, she needs to eat Troy."

"I know, I'm going." Troy said, ruffling Sam and Sophie's hair before heading after Gabriella.

He didn't have to go far before finding her sat on the bottom step of the stairs crying. Silently he made his way over and sat down next to her, resting his arm on his leg, he held his hand palm up and waited for Gabriella to interlace her fingers with his.

When she did he simply gave her hand a quick squeeze and got them both to their feet. He turned to her, keeping his right hand interlaced with her left, and with his left hand cupped her face, and using the pad of his thumb wiped away her falling tears and tear tracks, taking away any hint of her tears from the younger children. They needed to talk about this, but right now they both needed breakfast, and so, wordlessly, Troy gave Gabriella's hand one last tight squeeze before leading her back through to the dining.

Jazzy knew Gabriella had been crying by the way Troy was acting around her, but she also knew she didn't need to say anything because Troy could handle it. He may not do it straight away, but she knew he'd get Gabriella to talk, and that was all that mattered.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Okay I think that's everything we need for now, so I'm gonna make some phone calls while Jack's asleep, you guys just stay down here and relax, you've done really well Gabi, thank you." Lucille shot Troy a knowing look, before she got up and left the basement, to head back up to the mini whirlwinds that were her youngest children.

Troy tightened his grip around the shaking brunette beside him and pulled her close. They had only been talking about the funeral arrangements for five minutes when Gabriella's tears had started, now half an hour later, they still hadn't stopped. From the moment Gabriella's tear had begun to fall, Troy had instantly wrapped his arm round her and hadn't moved his arm once.

Now as they sat there in almost silence, Gabriella's sobs stopping it from being complete silence, Troy realised how much he really did care for Gabriella.

Lucille had brought home children for the night many times before and yeah, of course he'd been kind and looked after them, but there was something about Gabriella that made him want to get to know her more, that made him want her to turn to _him_ rather than his Mum, and something big, that made _him_ what to be her protector.

Troy was brought out of his daydreaming when Gabriella began to cough and splutter, her crying had become too much for her and she was seriously struggling to catch her breath.

"Gabriella listen to me, you need to breath, take some deep breaths, in and out, just focus on your breathing Gabi, come on, you're okay." Troy loosened his grip around Gabriella and soothingly began to run his hand up and down her back, hoping to offer her comfort as he did.

"T-troy, I…" Gabriella was cut off as another round of coughing hit her.

"Gabi its okay, don't worry, just breath honey, please, you're okay sweetheart, you're okay."

It was another good five minutes of Troy's gentle coaxing until Gabriella's breathing was back to normal, even though her tears still hadn't stopped.

"Gabi can you sit back against the sofa a second? I need to get you a bottle of water, I'm only going over there to the fridge." Gabriella looked from Troy to the fridge, which was across the room in the corner, and then gave him a slight nod, before moving her body from leaning against him, to leaning against the sofa.

"That's it, you're doing really well Gabi," Troy encouraged, as he grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge, the whole time keeping as much eye contact with Gabriella as possible.

Sitting back down he handed her a bottle of water and noticed how bad her sniffling had become, knowing he'd have to let out part of his feminine side.

"Sit tight and I'll get you some tissues." Troy told her, making sure she knew what his every move would be, knowing she needed simple things like that right now.

"You k-keep tissues down h-here? I thought this place was s-supposed to be your p-place, all manly and e-everything." Gabriella asked, her tears slowly subsiding.

"It is manly, but sometimes I have small people down here, like when I've had a tough day at school, or playing basketball, or I've had with Dad_ over_ basketball, I bring the littlies down here and play with them here, it makes them happy and makes me forget things. Inevitably one of them is going to need a tissue at some point so I keep a box down here, I just keep it hidden, the boys already say I'm wrapped round all of their little fingers." Troy said, as he reached into a cupboard and produced 'man size' box of tissues. "Even my tissues are manly, although the boys are right, I am wrapped round all of their little fingers, even Jessie and Jaz at times." Troy confessed, as he sat back down and placed the box of tissues in Gabriella's lap.

"They all l-love you s-so much though Troy, anyone can tell that." Gabriella replied, as she blew her nose and wiped away her tears and tears tracks.

"I know, I just don't like to admit it," Troy said, as he took a swig from his water bottle. "So, I was thinking, because Dad is ill and everything, maybe you and me could take the rest of them out for a bit? You don't have to come, you can stay here with Mum and Dad, but I was just gonna take them to get some ice cream in the park, it's only a fifteen minute walk away, it's up to you."

"I guess getting out of the house wouldn't be a bad thing, is Jazzy coming?"

"Dunno, hadn't asked her to be honest, although if that was the doorbell I hear, I'm betting that it's Jake, so she might now, although Jake does have a soft spot for the little ones when he's met them at games so they might come, save things being awkward between them by themselves."

Gabriella laughed. "Shall we go up and find out then?"

"Only if you're ready to."

Gabriella nodded, as she blew her nose one last time, "I'm ready, lets go." She said, standing up and offering her hand to Troy.

Troy took the lead and led her back up the basement stairs, but didn't fail to point out how amazing he found her laugh on the way.

"You've got a beautiful laugh Gabriella, it was really nice to hear it." Gabriella blushed and didn't respond verbally, but did squeeze his hand in a sign of thanks.

Troy himself wasn't so sure how a laugh could be beautiful, but at the time that just felt right to say, a beautiful laugh for a beautiful girl.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy smiled as he watched Jake and Gabriella interact with his younger siblings. He and Jazzy were sat on a bench in the children's play area of the local park, him suddenly not having the energy to play and Jazzy not being able to due to her ankle. Neither of these facts had stopped Gabriella or Jake taking a set of twins each and doing what ever was asked of them, they even seemed to be enjoying it.

"She's looks like she doesn't have any other care in the world," Jazzy spoke up, breaking Troy from his trance of watching Gabriella with Sam and Sophie.

"Yeah she does, Jake doesn't seem that bothered either though."

"True, he's got nieces and brother and sisters though, he's just as used to it as we are."

"Ah, I always wondered why he was so good with them, you like him then?"

"Yeah, I guess, he's been good to me Troy and I need that right now, you like Gabi though don't you?"

"I guess, I mean she's an amazing girl, but I can't exactly get to know the real her with all the emotions that are running through her right now, although I do think she's pretty cute, whether she'll ever think the same is a different thing all together though."

"She'll think the same one day, maybe not any time soon, like you said, there's a lot of emotions in her right now, but one day she'll like you as well, it'll just take time and patience, things you seem to have a lot of for her anyway."

"Yeah but they're exactly what she needs right now. Things are gonna get a lot worse before they get better for her Jaz, the funeral is next week, but we'll make it through together, I just hope she realises that."

"She does Troy, she already thinks a lot of you as it is, she trusts you as much as she does Mum, if not more, and that is something pretty amazing for someone who's been through everything she has."

"Yeah I guess you're right. I think we should round them up, my head is pounding suddenly, I need pain killers and my bed, you okay to walk?"

Jasmine nodded and got up as they others started to make their way back over. "I'm fine, I'll push the buggy, you look pretty rough though Troy."

"Thanks for that, now I'll have Mum looking after me as well as Dad, that's all she needs, especially looking after this lot as well."

"Hello, I'm here, I am old enough to look after them, besides Mum already said Jake could stay for dinner, so it's fine, you should head straight to bed." Jazzy told him, as she headed over to the push chair and used it as her crutch home, Jake holding hands with Amber and Lillie, while Gabriella kept _her_ arms firmly wrapped round Troy, noticing herself how bad he suddenly looked.

**TGTGTGTG**

Gabriella smiled to herself, as she finished putting away her last piece of clothing in the spaces Troy had provided for her. She'd seen the spaces when she'd gotten out of the shower this morning, but Troy had briefly told her about them when they'd gotten home, just before he stripped down to his boxers and collapsed onto his bed. Gabriella had then managed to catch Lucille and between them they were able to move Troy under his duvet and then leave him to sleep off whatever it was that was making him feel this way.

"Looks good," Gabriella turned round to find Lucille in the doorway.

"I thought so too, Troy cleared it for me when I was asleep, so I thought why not put my stuff in it while he's asleep."

"I'm not asleep." Troy's voice made them both turn their attention to the bed.

"Hey sleepy head, how you feeling?" Lucille asked, as she walked over to the bed and put her hand to Troy's forehead, he wasn't running a fever.

"Better thanks, the painkillers and sleep worked. How did I end up _in_ bed? I remember being _on_ _it,_ not _in it_."

"That'd be us," Lucille answered. "Gabi didn't want you getting cold so she caught me and we managed to help you move, you were half asleep so you had no idea what we were doing. Gabi you want some dinner now that Troy's awake, I can bring you both some up?"

"Yeah I guess I am hungry, thanks Lucille."

"No problem, I know you're hungry Troy, be right back." She said, and with that she'd left the room.

"Everything away then?" Troy asked, as he stretched in bed and then sat up leaning himself back against the headboard.

"Yep, all sorted, thanks Troy, I didn't fancy living outta boxes."

"I didn't think you would, that's why I sorted my stuff out, I knew I'd have room, I just spread it all out for the sake of it. Can you do me and favour though and grab me my t-shirt and some sweats from the chest of draws, top draw?"

"Sure, you want this t-shirt?" Gabriella asked, picking up the one he'd thrown on his chair after taking it off carelessly earlier.

"Yeah please, just grab any sweats from the draw, I don't mind." Troy said, as Gabriella grabbed the first pair of sweats she could and threw them and the t-shirt at him to get changed in bed, while she grabbed her own sweats and his hoodie and headed in to the bathroom to change.

Emerging from the bathroom Gabriella found Troy dressed, sat up in bed with the telly on and a tray of food in front of him.

"Why didn't you eat earlier Brie?" Troy asked, as she settled herself next to him and he handed her, her food.

Gabriella sighed. "It's stupid."

"I bet it isn't"

"It sounds stupid to me though."

Troy shrugged. "I don't care, I told you I'd help you Gabi, you obviously have a problem with meal times so, talk to me sweetie."

"It reminds me too much of being in a family. I just lost me entire family and now I'm being pushed into this amazing family that I just can't cope with when you're all together, sorry Troy."

"You've got nothing to apologise for sweetie, I completely understand why you're saying that, I'm used to it and can get overwhelmed by it sometimes. Why don't we work on it step by step, eating with a bigger amount of people as we go along. We're in this together Brie, every step."

"Thank you Troy, you're doing so much for me, it means a lot, more than you'll ever understand."

"I can't even began to understand what you're going through Brie, I'm not even going to try, but I _will _be with you through it all, every single step, we'll make it through together Brie, I promise you."

**TGTGTGTG**

**Here's another for you guys, hope you like it!**

**It doesn't exactly make sense, it's a bit of a mess if you ask me, just like I'm a mess right now, so we match!**

**Tell me what you think and:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	5. Pulling Together

**Here's the next chapter for you people, hope you like it!**

**The response to this story has been amazing, thank you all so so much! You all make me so happy :)**

Pulling Together

It hurt, it hurt way too much and as much as she tried to go back to sleep, she just couldn't, this was a job for some painkillers. So, she got herself out of bed and slowly but surely made her way along the corridor and down the stairs, then using the furniture and walls for support, made it into the kitchen and was able to get hold of the much needed painkillers and some water to take them with.

Seeing as it was only five o'clock and she didn't need to get up for school this Monday morning she decided she'd make her way back up to bed. But as she made her way back out into the hallway something in the lounge caught her attention and she decided she needed to investigate. Once again using the walls for support she made her way along the corridor into the lounge to find a light was on and the person she least expected to see was sat curled up on the couch.

"Jessie?"

"Hey," Jessie greeted, looking up at her still half asleep and shocked twin.

"Why are you here Jessie? Especially at five in the morning," Jazzy asked, moving to lean against the door frame to support her weight.

Jessie smiled. "The others were getting annoyed with me moping about 'cause I suddenly realised how much I'd upset you, so when I woke them up at half three in the morning, they sent me back here and told me to speak to you before I got back to them, apparently they don't like to see us arguing."

"We weren't arguing Jess, but I kinda don't wanna start now," Jasmine admitted, as she slowly moved round and sat down on the couch next to Jessie.

"You limping?" Jessie asked, as she moved enabling herself to look her sister in the eye.

"Yeah, twisted my right ankle paying basketball with Troy yesterday, I jumped and landed on it funny, it hurt like hell for a while and then it died down, now it hurts again so I came to get some painkillers." Jessie nodded in understanding and the sisters sat in silence for the next few minutes.

"I'm sorry," Jessie was the first to break the silence. "I'm sorry for everything Jaz, I didn't mean for any of it to turn into this, I just wanted the answers to the homework, I don't know how _or_ why the rest even happened."

"Why didn't you just ask me for help though? You know I would've helped you, and Jenna and Jemma if you'd of asked me."

"I know and I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry," Jessie said, tears now freely flowing down her face, as the guilt of what she'd really done started to hit her.

"Jessie don't cry, please, I completely accept your apology, just answer me one thing?" Jazzy asked, as she moved closer to her sister and wrapped an arm round her shoulders.

"Sure, I'll answer you anything; I owe you that at least." Jessie sniffled.

"Why did you wanna copy my work in the first place? You're good at maths, why did you _and_ the girls want to copy it?"

"The girls didn't copy it as such, they just checked their answers against yours and if theirs were wrong they changed them, it was me who copied it all."

"Why though Jess?"

"I can't do it Jaz, maths is supposed to be one of the subjects I'm good at, but I just don't get it."

"Why didn't you ask the teacher for help? Or me, you know I'd of helped you as much or as little as you need it."

Jessie sniffled. "I know, but everyone makes it out to be so simple and I just don't get it, I would've felt stupid asking for help, so I just left it, and then when I saw yours I just took it and copied it, I'm sorry Jaz."

"It's alright; I already told you I forgive you. How come you've suddenly become so close to the girls, they're cheerleaders aren't they?"

"Yeah, they saw me practising some moves they do, in the gym one day after maths, I'd gone in there to try and clear my head. They saw me and complimented me on how good I was, they said they were having cheerleading trials soon and that I should try out, I agreed and since then they've been helping me so that I'm a little ahead of the game compared to the other try outs. We just became really close doing that, but I never meant to ditch you Jazzy, I swear I didn't. I'll make it up to you, I promise, we'll sit with you for lunch from now on, I promise."

"You don't have to, 'cause I kinda have a lunch date," Jazzy replied shyly.

"Really? Who with?"

"Jake."

"You mean the Jake in our year, the one that's on the team with Troy and is very good at it as well."

"Yeah him, he saw me crying the other day after school, but didn't come over because I was with Troy, but he showed up here yesterday and came to see me 'cause I was up in the tree house. We spoke and admitted our feelings for each other and he said he's like to get to know me better by having lunch with me on Tuesday, so I agreed. He couldn't leave for a while though, the seniors were here and they made him play a few games before he left." Jazzy summed up, a slight blush evident on her cheeks.

"Jazzy that's amazing, I'm so happy for you, Tuesday lunch is the try outs anyway so I'm glad you'll be with someone. Are we good now?"

"Yeah we're good, just like before," Jasmine answered and the sisters shared a hug, something they hadn't done in a while and had both missed massively.

"I thought I heard voices, we having a get together or something?" The girls turned towards the doorway to find their big brother standing there with a glass of water and some painkillers in his hand.

"Hey Troy," Jessie greeted, as she stood to give her brother a hug. "What are you doing up? Don't tell me you're injured as well?"

"No, these are Gabi's meds, her wrist is really bothering her during the night at the minute. How come you're back Jessie?"

"I was annoying the others by moping about and it was the last straw when I woke them up at half three this morning, they told me to come back and sort things out with Jazzy and then get back to them."

"And have you?" Troy asked. "Sorted things out with Jazzy? Or do I need to lock you both in the basement 'til you do? Baring in mind I'll take away all the food and turn off the electric supply."

"We're fine Troy," Jazzy answered for her sister. "Totally fine, everything's back to normal and now I dunno about you two, but I wanna go back to bed." Jazzy said, as she pushed herself up from the couch and hobbled over to the others.

"You two joining me and Gabi then?" Troy asked, as he passed the tablets and water to Jessie, before bending down and scooping Jazzy into his arms so they could make it up the stairs quicker.

"Won't Gabi mind?" Jessie asked, as they reached the top of the stairs and Troy put Jazzy down. "I haven't exactly given her the best impression of me, have I?"

Troy shrugged. "No, but we're all gonna be sleeping and she was right from the beginning when she told Jazzy that you'd come round, so I think she had faith in you all along, she knows you're a good person really, just understands what it's like to be a teenage girl is all."

"Your room it is then," Jessie said, as they walked down the corridor that led to Troy's room. "You reckon we'll all fit in your bed though Troy?"

"Dunno, I guess there's only one way to find out though." Troy said, as he turned and took the tablets and water off of Jessie as they approached his bedroom door and the brunette inside.

**TGTGTGTG**

Gabriella sat in bed cradling her left wrist in her right hand against her body. She hadn't intended to wake Troy when she woke up due to the excruciating pain emanating from her wrist up her arm, but he'd awoken to her movements as she'd attempted to get back to sleep comfortably and had convinced her that taking her pain medication was in no way wimping out of the pain.

She rested herself back against the pillows and attempted to rest her eyes for a few minutes, when she heard voices outside the door and shortly after Troy entered and the older two of his six siblings hovered in the doorway.

"Here honey take these," Troy said, as he walked round to sit on the side of the bed next to Gabi, who sat up and gladly took the tablets quickly with only a sip of water to help. "As you can tell Jessie's back and for some crazy reason she and Jazzy have talked things over at this crazy hour. They wanted to know if it was okay to sleep in here with us, but only if it's okay with you, and feel free to say no Gabi, they won't be offended."

"It's fine with me, the more the merrier I've always been told, you reckon we'll all fit in the bed though?"

"Dunno," Troy answered, as he put Gabriella's glass of water down on the bedside table and crawled over her legs to plop back into his place on the bed. "But there's only one way to find out. Gabi and I get this side, you two can have the other, no one make any sudden movements." Troy warned, as the girls climbed into bed and they all moved around a bit before finally settling.

"You make it sound like were watching wildlife or something Troy," Jazzy said, as she settled herself close to her sister from her spot on the edge of the bed. They all found this funny, but Jessie more so.

"Spill it Jess," Troy ordered.

"I can't, it's kinda rude and pretty dirty minded," Jessie managed to get out in between laughs. After receiving looks from the others to spill, Jessie took a big breath and managed to do just that.

"I was just thinking that Troy's in his bed with three girls and well isn't that what most teenage boys dream of?"

"No," Troy answered, as he lifted his arm allowing Gabriella to lay her head on his chest, knowing she was still dealing with the pain from her wrist and that the silent offer of comfort helped her massively. "It is not every teenage boy's dream, especially when two of those girls are his sisters, that's gross Jessie, so, so gross."

"You asked," Jessie defended, as Jazzy used her pillow to whack her round her sister round the head with.

"Alright ladies break it up. It's some early time in the morning and I quite frankly plan to lay in on my last day of my long weekend, so please shut up and go to sleep, or failing that, go away!" Troy emphasised his point by pulling the covers further round Gabriella and cuddling her closer to him.

"Fine," the twins said at the same time, as they turned towards each other and cuddled together, just as they had when they were little, their instinct to be close to their twin setting in.

**TGTGTGTG**

Lillie and Amber had gone to school, Jack was still in bed recovering from his bout of sickness and Lucille had to go into work leaving, Troy in charge, but there was a problem. The pain in Gabriella's wrist had gotten worse, not better, and Troy was seriously concerned that the break was worse than had first been thought. He really wanted to take Gabriella back to the hospital, just to get her checked out, just to be on the safe side and just to give him piece of mind.

He'd spoken to Lucille about this and she agreed, but needed to go to work for an important meeting, so there was no way she would take the day off to take Gabriella. Troy had told her not to worry and that he'd figure something out and so had sent her on her way.

"What we gonna do guys?" Samuel and Sophie stopped their current block building activity to look at their big brother, but only gave him their award winning Bolton smiles, before going back to their blocks. Troy ruffled their hair, before standing from his couched position and walking to the other half of the room to see how Gabriella was baring up from her spot laid out on the couch.

Fortunately, he found that Gabriella had managed to fall asleep and so sat himself down on the couch, with the twins still in view, as he tried to figure out the best way to deal with the current situation. He needed to get Gabriella to hospital, there was no other way of going about it, but he couldn't take Sophie and Sam with him, it wouldn't be fair on any one involved and after their early morning talk, Jessie and Jasmine were still sound asleep in his bed and he had no intention of waking them.

Taking his phone out of his pocket, Troy started to scroll though his contacts list, seeing if it would help him find someone who could be any help to him. Getting closer to the bottom of the list, he realised he wasn't going to get anywhere doing this, until he came across Taylor's number. With smile on his lips, Troy pressed the 'call' button, lifted the phone to his ear and waited for Taylor to answer.

**TGTGTGTG**

Fifteen minutes later Taylor pulled up in front of the Bolton house hold and had barely stopped the car before Chad was out and making his way to the house.

Taylor laughed at her boyfriend's, almost child like behaviour, as she switched off the engine and followed his lead. It was no secret that Chad had a soft spot for Sophie and Sam, it had been that way from day one of them meeting and thankfully the feeling seemed to mutual, after they got over the frightful size of Chad's hair that was.

Troy had told Taylor he'd leave the front door unlocked, and so armed with this information Chad simply walked straight in, eager to start playing with his favourite Bolton's. Taylor laughed as he kicked off his shoes and watched as he practically slid across the polished wooden floors as he made his way to the lounge.

"Morning," Chad greeted Troy and a now awake and crying Gabriella, before turning right to start his fun with Sophie and Sam.

"Hey guys," Taylor greeted a few minutes later, as she came and took a seat next to Gabriella. "How you doing sweetie?" Gabriella didn't answer, she was trying not to focus on her wrist and so let Troy answer for her.

"Hey Tay, we're not doing to great really, that's why I phoned you, thanks so much for coming."

"It's fine Troy honestly, you and I both know that Chad would never turn down an opportunity to play with those two and we would've probably ended up round here anyway, so it's fine. Where are the girls? You said Jessie was back didn't you?"

"Yeah she's back and they've sorted everything out, only they did it at five this morning, so they're still asleep, in my bed, which is where we all ended up after I came to get Gabi some painkillers this morning. I don't have the heart to wake them, Dad's ill in bed still, Mum_ had_ to go to work and I couldn't exactly take those two to A&E with me, it wouldn't be fair on anyone. I was running out of ideas and options until I came across your number in my phone, so _thank you_ Taylor."

"I told you Troy, _it's fine, _but nowthat we are here you should get going, I can see why you're concerned, Gabi's wrist isn't exactly looking great."

Troy looked down at Gabi's wrist that he has wrapped in and ice pack and was gently resting on his lap, his fingers gently interlaced with hers. The bruising she had on her wrist had gotten considerably worse, with the bruise getting bigger and Gabriella's wrist beginning to swell, so much so that Troy had to take off her cast before circulation was cut off to her fingers. "You're right Taylor, come on Brie, let's get you checked over." Troy said to Gabriella, who simply brought her wrist to cradle against her body and be supported by her other arm, before getting up and heading towards the front door.

"Sorry Tay, she's in a bad way this morning, she's hardly spoken to anyone, don't take it personally." Troy said, as he got up and grabbed his keys and wallet from the end table.

"She has every right to act that way, just go Troy, we'll still be here, don't worry."

"Okay I'm going, bye Tay, bye _children_" Troy said, towards the twins _and_ Chad, earning him a soft ball in the head before he even had the chance to dodge it.

Taylor laughed and shoved Troy out of the door, before settling herself on the floor with the 'children,' realising at that moment just how much Troy had come to care for Gabriella in such a short amount of time.

**TGTGTGTG**

Two and a half hours later, Troy pulled into a space in the car park of the local ice cream parlour. He'd been right to be concerned about the state of Gabriella's wrist, it was indeed more than a hairline fracture she'd gotten.

Troy had explained everything to the doctor, as Gabriella had pretty much shut down. Taking into account everything Troy had told her and the amount of pain Gabriella seemed to be in, Dr Gold, who'd treated Gabriella on that fateful night, had immediately rushed her through for an x-ray, one which Gabriella got very upset about until Dr Gold assured her Troy would be able to be in the room as well, just behind the protective screen. The x-ray had confirmed that Gabriella had a more than just a hair line fracture, the fracture was a straight break, but still it wasn't as small as first thought. Dr Gold had explained that this could've have been easily missed on the night for a number of reasons, the main one being Gabriella's fear to let anyone near her for a prolonged space of time. Dr Gold had then personally put Gabriella's wrist into a had cast, one made of plaster of Paris, which Gabriella would have to keep on for four weeks, at which point she'd return for another x-ray to see if the cast could be permanently removed or if another one, of similar or different nature, needed to be applied.

"I'm sorry," Gabriella broke the comfortable silence they'd been in since leaving the hospital.

"What for?" Troy asked confused as to why she'd be apologising.

"For, I dunno, being quite at the hospital, making you do all the talking, freaking out over the x-ray, being a miserable bitch all morning."

"To be honest Gabi, I wouldn't expect you to react any other way, you were in a lot of pain, anyone in that amount of pain would be miserable, _but _now that you have your amazing purple cast and horrible looking sling, I reckon it should be plain sailing, until you need to shower, that could be difficult with not getting it wet and all."

Gabriella smiled and a small laugh escaped her lips, "plastic bags Troy, that's what I'll need and someone to tie and untie them for me and _then_ I _will_ be plain sailing."

Troy smiled, "it's good to see you smile and hear you laugh Gabi, I knew Mum kept me about for a reason, to cheer everyone up. That should be my new name, Troy, the cheerer up-er-er."

Gabriella laughed even more than she had before, "I think you just invented a new word Troy, congratulations." Gabriella said, using her right hand to adjust the itchy sling around her neck.

"Okay, so now that you're smiling again and we've discovered that I'm an inventor, you want ice cream?"

"Choc chip?"

"Is there any other kind?" Troy asked, before quickly getting out of the car and walking round to Gabriella's side to help out, just like he'd done all day.

**TGTGTGTG**

She felt bad, really bad. It was something they'd always done, something that meant they were all together _at least_ once a day and now, she'd ruined that.

Gabriella had freaked out during dinner, the noise and amount of people had completely freaked her out and caused her to have a panic attack, during which she'd spilt her dinner everywhere and completely humiliated herself in front of the _entire_ Bolton family.

But, they hadn't seen it that way at all. Jack had been up and about by the time Troy and Gabriella came back from the hospital and while he looked after the younger children Lucille, and the older three pulled together to make Gabriella feel a lot more comfortable.

They plated up some more food for Gabriella, grabbed their own food and drinks and then made their way down to the basement where Troy had taken Gabriella once her panic attack had calmed down. Lucille placed Gabriella's food and drink down on the coffee table in front of her and offered her a sympathetic smile before leaving the rest to Troy and the girls.

"Before you even attempt to apologise, _don't_," Troy stated, as he put his food down on the coffee table and then walked round it to sit next to Gabriella. "You're used to being in small groups, you've never lived with this amount of people before, we wouldn't expect you to be able to cope with it straight away."

"I just feel so stupid, I got food everywhere, made a fool of myself in front of everyone, probably scared the life out of the little ones and disrupted your dinner, you must think I'm crazy Jessie."

"Nah," Jessie answered, as she took a seat on the floor in front of the coffee table, opposite Troy and Gabriella on the sofa and next to Jazzy, who threw down a cushion before plopping down onto it. "I've lived with Troy and Dad all my life, they aren't exactly sane, believe me compared to them, you're completely normal."

"See," Troy said, giving Gabriella a nudge with his shoulder. "You aren't crazy, you just haven't had it easy recently, but you'll get there in the end, I'll help you and be there for you. The girls and Mum will be there when you need girl advice. Dad's the one to go to when you need a big bear hug, and the others are simply happy if you play with them." Gabriella smiled knowing that the people around her were serious and genuine and really would support her all the way.

They'd pulled together for her today, and that, to Gabriella, meant the world. She just couldn't help but wonder why she felt like she had butterflies in her stomach every time she was with Troy.

**TGTGTGTG**

**I'm so, so, so annoyed with myself for not getting this out sooner, I tried every night since the last update but I just couldn't get anywhere. I knew what I wanted to write but , nothing happened. Now though, it's here and that's what matter most, right?**

**As usual guys:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	6. Understanding

**WOW! Over fifty reviews for only five chapters, that's amazing, thank you all **_**so**_** much, you've made me so happy :)**

**Anyway: here's the next chapter for you all, enjoy!**

Understanding

"Momma? Momma? Momma?"

"That's quite a while for him," Lucille told Gabriella as they made their way downstairs. "Usually I only get down the hall and he's trying to find me, they mush be having great fun with those blocks."

Gabriella laughed as she adjusted the itchy cling around her neck, Dr Gold said she could stop using it after a couple of days but she still needed to keep her arm supported and use the sling again if she was in any pain. "Troy brought the blocks for them didn't he?"

"Yeah, he's always buying them stuff, all of them, we tell him not to but he never listens."

"Sounds like Troy to me, you've all been so kind to me though, so I wouldn't know any other way."

"No, you right, they're all pretty caring, when they want to be, but Troy being the oldest feels some kind of duty to treat them every now and then. It's nice though, knowing how close knit they all are."

"Momma? Momma? Momma?"

"I was wondering where he'd gotten to, I thought maybe he'd remembered the blocks or something, but apparently not. I'm this way Sammy."

"You think he'll find us?" Gabriella asked, as she did her best to help Lucille tidy up the quiet room.

"Hopefully, he usually does, he's quite good at following my voice, if not he'll just cry and shout to let us know he's had enough of this game and wants me _now_."

"Momma!" Sam exclaimed, as he arrived in the quiet room, happy that he'd finally found his Mum.

"That's me buddy, what's up?" Lucille asked, as she walked over to Sam and picked him up. "Did you realise I was gone?"

"Momma pway?" Sam asked, all the time subconsciously running his left hand through Lucille's hair, while his eyes were constantly fixed on Gabriella. "Pway?"

"You want Gabi to come play as well?" Sam nodded and wiggled out of Lucille's arms so that he could walk over to Gabriella and take hold of her good hand.

"Gabwi pway?"

"Yeah I'll play with you Sam, what we playing?" Gabriella asked, already knowing the answer to her question anyway.

"Blocks!" Sam exclaimed, before pulling on Gabriella's hand until she and Lucille followed him back to the lounge.

"You want any of your medication Gabi?" Lucille asked once they were settled on the carpet in the lounge with Sam, while Sophie was quite happy to play by herself with her dollies.

"No I'm good thanks, I took some before my shower when I had breakfast so I'm good 'til about lunch time."

"I never did ask, how did showering go? You know, with the cast and plastic bag and everything?"

Gabriella laughed, "It was eventful to say the least, but I managed. I'm not sure how I'd of been getting dressed if you hadn't come to help."

"Troy's injured himself too many times playing basketball, I'm know how hard it is to get dressed while injured. Although, the last time I had to help him was when he was seven and he fell off of the trampoline in the garden and broke his arm like you have now, he screamed the place down, it was definitely broken. It wasn't the same one we have now, but it's the reason why this one has a safety net around it."

Gabriella laughed at Troy's misfortune as she continued to help Sam build his tower. "Go on then, knock it down." Hesitating for a moment, as if he was contemplating what Gabriella had said, Sam stood up to give himself more strength and power and then pushed the tower over earning him a round of applause from Gabriella, while Lucille had left the room to answer the phone.

"What you doing over there Sophie?" Gabriella asked the small girl, who'd been fairly quiet playing by herself.

Sophie turned to look at Gabriella with a worried and upset look on her face. Checking Sam was alright by himself for a bit, Gabriella got up and made her way over to Sophie who was at the other end of the room.

"Sophie honey, what's up?" Gabriella asked, as she crouched down next to the toddler and ran a comforting hand up and down her back.

Sophie didn't answer verbally, but instead picked up one of her dollies to show to Gabriella, and it was then that Gabriella understood Sophie's upset. The seam along the leg of the doll, which Sophie was showing Gabriella, had come undone and so the stuffing inside the doll was beginning to come out.

"Aww sweetie it's okay, we'll ask your Mummy for a needle and thread and I'll make it all better for dolly, alright?" Sophie once again didn't answer, but this time it was because Lucille had entered the room and Sophie wanted her Mum.

"Hey little girl, what's up?" Lucille asked, as she picked up a now crying Sophie, who once again didn't respond, but pointed over to Gabriella and her broken dolly.

"The seam along the leg has come undone and the stuffing's coming out, I told her if you had a needle and thread I could fix it for her." Gabriella explained, as she made her way over to them with the 'injured' doll.

"That'd be great Gabi, thank you, I'll just get you some, won't be long," Lucille left the room with Sophie cuddled up in her arms, but returned not a moment later with a needle, some pale pink thread and some scissors.

"Here you go," Lucille said, handing Gabriella the supplies needed, as she took a seat next to her on the couch and put Sophie on the floor to play with Sam. "Gabi it was the elementary school on the phone, Amber's crying over something but she won't speak to anyone over it, they want me to go and see her, are you alright with these two? Or did you want to come? Or what?"

"I'm fine to stay here with these guys if you think they'll be okay with me?"

"Yeah they'll be fine, they know you and they're happy with the blocks for now, if they get bored they'll find something else, if not put the telly on, that'll soon distract them."

"Okay, its fine Lucille I can cope, you go and see to Amber."

"Alright, thank you sweetie, bye guys," Lucille said, giving the twins a quick kiss on the head before leaving, hoping to leave before they realised she'd gone.

**TGTGTGTG**

An hour and a half later, Gabriella carefully made her way down the steps that lead from the back porch and across the back garden to the family's twelve foot trampoline.

Lucille had just arrived back from the elementary school, although she'd brought Amber with her, who as soon as she'd walked in the door, ran through house and out the back door. Lucille had explained to Gabriella how when she'd arrived at the school Amber had thrown herself at her, crying hysterically and wouldn't let go. Although Lucille had managed to calm her tears, Amber wouldn't let go of her Mum, so the teacher and Lucille had decided it would be best for Amber to go home for the rest of the day and Lucille would try and talk to her there. Lillie had been a little unsure of her sister leaving school without her, but Lucille had reassured her that Amber was ok and that she and the others would walk down to the bus stop to meet her when school was over. Lillie was still a little unsure, but after a quick hug with Lucille and Amber, had allowed her teacher to take her away to do some painting.

Lucille had tried to talk to Amber in the car, but she wasn't having any of it, and now that she'd run off into the garden and Sam had discovered that she was home; she wasn't going to get the chance.

So, that was why Gabriella was now, very carefully, getting onto the family's trampoline and being careful of her arm, was making her way through the opening in the safety net.

"Leave me alone please Mummy," Amber had her back to Gabriella and had assumed the movement on the trampoline was her Mum.

"What about me?" Gabi asked. "Can I stay?" Amber turned her head to look up at Gabriella, thinking for only a moment, she nodded and then turned back to the way she was facing. Gabriella took a seat next to the little girl, making sure her uninjured arm was closest to her, in case she became in need of a hug.

"Why am I ugly Gabi?" Gabriella was completely taken aback by Amber's question; she really hadn't been expecting that.

"You aren't ugly Amber, why would you even think that sweetie?"

"_They _say I am."

"Who's they Amber?"

"The others in my class," Amber sniffled and it was then that Gabriella put her good arm into use, as she realised the little girl was now crying.

"What do they say to you Amber? If you tell me I might be able to help."

"T-they t-tell me that I'm t-to s-short and t-that my e-eyes are h-horrible," Amber said, as the tears cam on stronger and faster, causing Gabriella to tighten her arm around the clearly upset girl.

"Oh sweetie, why didn't you tell your Mummy and your teacher? They could've sorted it out while you were still at school."

Amber shook her head. "T-they wouldn't l-listen anyway."

"I'm sure they would, they don't like seeing you upset, do they?"

"No, I mean t-the others w-wouldn't l-listen when Mrs May t-told them t-to s-stop."

"Well we won't know unless we try, so how about we go and tell your Mummy what's happening? Then she can phone the school and talk to Mrs May and she can talk to the people being horrible to you, okay?" Amber nodded and used the back of her hand to wipe away some of her tears. "And then, when she's done that we'll ask her if we can do some baking, what do you say?"

Amber smiled and gave Gabriella a sideways hug. "Yes please Gabi, can we make fairy cakes?"

"I don't see why not. You'll have to do all of the mixing and everything though, my arm still needs to stay in its sling for a while longer, you think you're up for that?"

"Of course I am Gabi, I'm a great baker," Amber said as the pair pulled back from their hug.

"Well that's alright then, you ready to go back inside?" Amber nodded and crawled over to the opening in the net and climbed off the trampoline herself, before turning round and helping Gabriella off so they could go inside to speak to Lucille and hopefully bake some cakes.

**TGTGTGTG**

As the three eldest Bolton children returned from school that afternoon, the first thing they picked up on was the smell of freshly made cakes wafting its way through the house.

They made their way through to the kitchen, knowing that was the source of the heavenly smells. Upon arrival, they found Lucille doing the washing up and looking out of the window into the back garden.

"Hey guys," Lucille greeted her eldest, not once turning away from her current job, having heard them come in to know it was them.

"You've been busy Mum," Troy said, as he worked over to Lucille to start the wiping up for her.

"No I haven't, this was all down to Gabi and Amber, with a little help from Lillie and the other two when she got back from school."

"Why was Amber home before Lillie?" Jessie asked, as she and Jazzy began to put away the things Troy had dried up.

"She got upset at school and they phoned me because she was crying, _a lot_. When I got there she was pretty hysterical so I brought her home with me and in the end Gabi talked to her and found out that some of her class mates had told her she was ugly. Amber had a bit of cry while they talked, but they soon came back in and spoke to me and then asked if they could do some baking, I agreed and that's where all this came from," Lucille concluded, turning and gesturing to all the cakes, decorated and waited to be eaten on the kitchen island.

"Is Amber okay now though?" Jazzy asked, as she put away the last bowl the girls had used for their baking.

"Take a look for yourself," Lucille said, nodding her head towards the back garden, as she moved away from the window and allowed the others to gather round it.

They watched as Gabriella gave Amber and Lillie instructions on how to shoot a basket, at the same time as playing with Sam and Sophie, all of whom seemed to be having an amazing time.

"She looks so care free," Jessie commented, leaning her head against Troy's shoulder.

"Who?" Jazzy questioned, copying her sisters actions and leaning her head onto Troy's other shoulder.

"Gabi," Jessie supplied.

"She's been that way all day, it's the happiest I've seen her since the accident," Lucille commented, coming to stand with her children.

"It's because she's with them," Troy spoke up. "When she's with them she doesn't have to think or worry about anything that's happened because as long as she'll play with them, they're happy, they don't care why she's suddenly living with us or why she's hurt. Okay so, Amber and Lillie know she has no family left but after that they don't care, she'll play with them, make cakes with them and they're happy, but so is she because she doesn't have to worry. She doesn't have to worry about Mum asking her questions about the funerals, or sorting through all her Grandparents stuff that's still boxed up in the spare room, or if they'll be a lull in conversation when she'll be able to think and it'll all come flooding back or the fact that she's worried about waking me up and when she has a night mare, because they don't understand."

"What so because we understand it makes it worse?" Jessie asked confused.

"No of course not," Troy replied. "But it does make it _easier_ that they _don't_ understand because it gives her that little chance to just be her, I guess, and at least attempt to forget."

Lucille nodded at Troy's knowledge and took the three children outside with her, allowing them to be a small part of Gabriella's time to forget.

**TGTGTGTG**

Wordlessly, he placed the blanket round her shoulders and sat down little way away from her, not wanting to startle her or invade her personal space.

Everything had been going so well, she'd been helping him put the youngest four to bed, him helping them with their baths and her helping them into their pyjamas and reading them a bed time story. She was a natural and for the second time that day was allowed to forget and just enjoy helping others.

But when they gone back downstairs to joy the others in the lounge things had gone down hill and after only being in there for ten minutes Gabriella had gotten up and left, the feeling of being a part of a family seemingly too much for her.

After sitting on the cold concrete floor of the basketball court for almost ten minutes, Troy couldn't bare to see Gabriella in that state any longer, he needed to give her a hug.

"I'm sorry Brie, but I can't just sit her and watch you cry and shake, can I give you a hug?"

Gabriella looked at him and nodded, allowing him to move over to and pull her into his lap, cradling her in his arms as the tears still fell but slowly the shaking stopped.

"I-I can't g-go back in there T-Troy, I'm s-sorry."

"You don't have to honey, we wouldn't expect you to. Mum suggested that maybe we go down to the basement or up to bed and she'll make us a snack, cause someone fell asleep through dinner."

Gabriella blushed slightly. "I'm s-sorry I was t-tired, it's not easy running r-round with those four with a b-broken arm, it's tiring, I wasn't p-planning on sleeping, it just c-caught up with me I guess."

"I'm only teasing you Gabi, don't worry. So, bed or basement?"

"Do y-you have b-blankets down there?"

"Yeah, you can keep this one though, but they're bigger ones down there if you want them as well." Gabriella nodded and snuggled herself closer to Troy, indicating to him she had no intention of moving anytime soon.

Smiling at her cuteness, Troy placed her back on the ground, enabling himself to stand up before he bent back down to pick her up and carry her inside, passing Lucille on the way and placing their food orders before he continued on their journey down into the basement.

**TGTGTGTG**

Twenty minutes later the food was eaten and Troy and Gabriella sat under separate blankets on his basement couch.

"Troy?"

"Yeah, you okay?"

Gabriella nodded timidly. "Could I maybe have a hug?"

"Of course you can, you don't have to ask, come here," Troy said, as she moved towards the middle of the couch and let Gabriella do the same so he could take her in his arms and give her, her cuddle.

"You alright Brie?" Troy asked a few minutes into their hug, suddenly feeling a wet spot in his t-shirt and along with hearing the odd quiet sniffles

Gabriella nodded from her spot against Troy's chest. "Yeah I'm sorry, I just suddenly felt all clingy and in need of a cuddle and I really don't know why I started crying, I'm sorry."

"Hey now, there's no need to apologies, we've talked about this before and I believe you've even talked about it with Mum. We know you're gonna have these moments when you just cry and feel clingy, you don't need to apologies for it, it's just the way your emotions are right now."

"I know, Lucille said my hormones are probably a bit crazy as well with all the stress and such I've been through."

"It's fine Brie, don't worry, just relax and watch this rubbish you're making me watch before I change the channel, alright?"

Gabriella laughed and cuddled herself closer to Troy, knowing that although her day had really gone down, she'd still had a great day and that gave her an amazing feeling. But there was still that feeling in her stomach every time she was around Troy and she still didn't know what it was or how to deal with it.

**TGTGTGTG**

**Sorry if there's any mistakes guys, the ending is rushed 'cause my Dad is wanting me to go to bed.**

**Anyway: I'm back! For those of you who didn't know I took a break from writing because things got pretty crazy for me and I cried way too much, but I'm back and although things aren't 100%, I'm back writing and that's what matters, right?**

**So yeah here's chapter six for ya, hope you liked it!**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU! **


	7. Feelings

**Here's the next chapter for you guys, it's taken me a while to get out, but I've been coming down with something and now it****'s here I don't feel to great :(**

**While I remember: myself, Bluebell140 and my friend Charli, Crazy4BIEBER17MrsJustinBieber, now have a joint account called MusicalLovers2011. Our first story is called I Understand and it would mean a lot to us if you'd head over there at some point to check it out, the topic means a lot to me personally so a few reviews would really make me smile :)**

**Anyway, back to What I've Been Looking For, enjoy! **

Feelings 

"Morning," Troy greeted his family, as he walked into the dining room on Thursday morning. He'd just gotten Gabriella back to sleep after an extremely restless night and he wanted to warn the others not to be to loud if they went up there.

"Morning sweetie, how's Gabi doing?" Lucille asked, as she handed him some toast and sat him down at the table in between Sophie and Sam.

"She's finally asleep, so please guys if you go up there be quiet, it took me near on two hours to get her off, she doesn't need to wake up again, not yet anyway."

"Why'd she wake up son?" Jack asked, as he sat reading the morning paper.

"Nightmares," Troy replied, taking a bite of his toast. "Really, really bad nightmares. She got through the first ones herself, waking up briefly, before cuddling back into me and falling asleep. The last one was bad though, she was crying and shaking and it took me ages to get through to her and calm her down and then even longer to convince her she'd be fine going back to sleep, she's gonna be inconsolable at the funeral Mum."

"I know honey, but there isn't really much we can do about it, she's grieving and unfortunately the nightmares seem to be a part of that, we just have to comfort her as much as we can and give her whatever else it may be she needs during this time, but I think you being there means a lot to her right now Troy."

"I know Mum, it's just hard seeing her like that, you know?"

"I do sweetie, I really do," Lucille replied, as she placed her hands reassuringly on Troy's shoulders.

"Anyway, you have your first cheerleading practise today, right Jessie?"

"Yep, during free period, when Jazzy is gonna help Jake with his maths," Jessie answered, elbowing Jazzy suggestively.

"Yeah, we're gonna study _maths_ Jess, not anything else, all we did was have lunch two days running, doesn't mean we're together now."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

"That's enough girls, cut it out," Lucille cut it. "It's time to get to school though people, so lets go, get your bags together and meet Dad at the door in five, lets go!" Moaning, but stilling doing as they were told, Jessie, Jazzy, Lillie and Amber all got up to go and get their bags, while Jack and Lucille got Sophie and Sam ready for a day at Jack's parent's.

"Troy?" Lucille said, as she was about to help Jack buckle the twins into the car. "Go and crash on the sofa or in our room will ya and get some sleep, today's gonna be one long day, you'll need all the energy you can get."

"Okay, thanks Mum," Troy took one last bite of toast, before getting up and heading towards the lounge, flopping down on the sofa and falling asleep soon after.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy held Gabriella tightly as they made their way out of the church. She'd been strong, so amazingly strong, but when the time had come for them to leave the church and watch her grandparents be lowered into their final resting place, she couldn't take it. She'd broken down into a hysterical heap on the floor and as Troy had predicated she was completely inconsolable.

At a loss of what to do to help Gabriella, Troy did the one thing he knew would help. He sunk to the floor next to her and gathered her in his arms, rocking her back and forth and shushing her until she was calm enough for him to talk to. She'd managed to tell him she didn't want to see the coffins being lowered into the ground, so Troy had told her they would stay in the church until his Mum and Dad came and got them and Gabriella would then be free to say her goodbyes in private, something he knew even then, wouldn't be easy.

Which was why now, they were following Jack and Lucille over to where her grandparents had been laid. The turn out for the funerals has been better than expected. Gabriella said that although her grandparents knew a lot of people, she wasn't sure if many would come, they were elderly themselves and getting out wasn't exactly easy for them. But, many of them did manage to come and in paying their respects wished Gabriella all the best with her future in whatever she may do.

"Troy, we're going to go and wait in the car, just let her take her time okay?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah Mum its fine." Troy said his grip still tight around Gabriella's shoulders.

"D-don't leave m-me Troy."

"I'm not going anywhere sweetheart, unless you want me to that is," Gabriella shook her head. "In that case Mum and Dad are going to go and wait in the car while you say goodbye okay? I'm gonna stay with you the whole time."

"T-thank you." Gabriella said as they approached her Grandparents graves and she escaped Troy's grasp, walking over and kneeling down in front of them, sobbing into her hands as she took in the flowers that had been laid on top.

Troy stood back and watched, he knew there wasn't much he could do right now and that Gabriella needed this last closing moment with them, before she could really start the grieving and also healing process.

Things stayed that way for the next ten minutes, until Gabriella sat up a little straighter and wiped away her tears, before turning round and waving for Troy to come over.

"Sit with me?"

"If that's what you want, I thought you might want some time alone with them," Troy said, as he settled himself on the grass next to Gabriella.

"It is what I want Troy, I've just spent the last ten minutes with them and I would really like it if you'd sit here with me for a bit and maybe…hold me?"

Troy nodded. "If that's what you want."

"It is, it makes me feel safe." Troy smiled and moved so that he was now sitting behind Gabriella and pulled her against him, so that he back was resting against his chest and she leaned her head against his right shoulder.

They sat like that, Troy holding Gabriella in silence, for a good ten minutes, until Troy realised Gabriella's breathing had become even and upon looking down at her found out she'd managed to fall asleep, clearly she did feel safe in his arms.

As gently and as carefully as he possibly could, Troy moved himself to the side of Gabriella and then scooped her up into his arms, knowing that above everything else she needed this sleep and he would do anything in his powers right now to not wake her up.

Watching his footing, Troy carried Gabriella over to the car, where Jack was already out and holding the back door open for them to slide into. Troy placed Gabriella in the middle seat and did up her seat belt and by the time he'd done up his own she was already cuddling back in to him despite the fact she was still sound asleep.

**TGTGTGTG**

"You like her though don't you?" Chad said for what had to be the millionth time that afternoon and for the millionth time Troy gave no response.

"Come on captain, you can tell us," Zeke added in, as he passed the ball to Chad, who passed it to Ryan, who passed it to Jake, the boys silently communicating with each other that Troy wasn't getting his hands on the ball until he answered them.

"If you're not going to pass me the ball then I'll just go in and help Mum with the others," Troy told them, quickly catching on to their plan.

"But if you just admitted that you like Gabriella then we'd stop," Ryan told him, passing the ball over Troy's head to Zeke.

"Boys!" Taylor called from the side of the court, where she was sat with the other girls, all except Gabriella who still hadn't woken up from falling asleep in the car.

"Yeah?" The boys all answered in unison, making Jessie and Jazzy laugh at how Taylor was the 'Mum' of the group and was _always_ listened to.

"The only reason Troy isn't answering you is because he _does_ like Gabi, it's obvious, but think about it. The girl is broken right now, the last thing on her mind is whether she likes Troy or not." The boys all stood thinking about what Taylor has just said and as usual, it all made sense.

"Is she right Troy?" Jake asked, as he moved to sit with the girls, sneaking a drink from Jazzy's glass of juice as he did.

"I guess," Troy answered sheepishly, his left hand moving to scratch the back of his neck, something they all knew meant he was kinda nervous.

"That means yes," Jessie put in, stealing the ball from Chad and going for a shot.

"So you like her, but don't want to make a move or anything because she's kinda fragile right now?" Zeke asked, as he moved to sit with Sharpay.

"Pretty much," Troy replied, stealing the ball from Jessie and making a shot himself.

"Alright you lot stop teasing my son, snacks are ready," Lucille said, as she came out from the house with a tray of snacks and more drinks for the wildcats, which she put on the table near the girls.

"How can we not though Mrs B?" Chad asked. "It's not like we can tease Sam, he's far too cute, I mean look at him," Chad said, pointing to the back porch where Sam, Sophie, Lillie and Amber all stood, award winning Bolton smiles on their faces.

"Can they come and play Lucille?" Kelsi asked, knowing anytime spent with the younger Bolton's would be fun.

"Yeah if they want to, it'll give me a chance to get dinner started," Lucille said, as she turned round and headed back into the house, passing Troy on the way who was helping Sophie walk towards the others. Despite almost being two years old, Sophie still wasn't very confident or stable on her feet and preferred to hold someone's hand, rather than go charging off like her twin.

"She didn't wake up that long ago Troy, so watch her, she's even more wobbly than normal," Lucille warned Troy, just as Sophie proved her Mum's point and fell over her own foot.

"Okay cutie, how about I carry you for a bit? Let you wake up?" Sophie nodded and wrapped her little arms around Troy's neck, who in return gave her a sloppy kiss on her cheek before continuing their walk to join the others.

Lucille laughed at Troy's behaviour, but smiled as she heard Amber and Lillie squealing in delight at being spun around by Chad and Zeke, knowing that her younger children had gained themselves some extra brothers and sisters in the wildcats.

**TGTGTGTG**

Ten minutes after she'd waved the rest of the wildcats off, Lucille was putting the finishing touches to dinner when she felt a presence behind her. Knowing Jack had a meeting and wouldn't be home 'til late she turned round to find Gabriella in the doorway, dressed in the sweats she'd changed her into when they arrived back from the funerals and looking a lot better than this morning.

"Hey sweetie, how you feeling?"

"Not too bad I guess, better than this morning anyway, I just keep telling myself things will get better now."

"And they will, you're right."

Gabriella smiled, as she came in and sat on one of the island stools. "Lucille, can I talk to you about something?"

"Yeah 'course you can sweetie, what's up?" Lucille knew it had taken a lot for Gabriella to ask to talk to her and for that she was going to give her, her full attention, so she stopped what she was doing and took a seat on a stool next to Gabriella.

"It's kinda embarrassing, but I don't know what it is and I…I was hoping you might be able to help me. I think I know what it is, but I don't want to act on it and then make a foul out of myself 'cause I was wrong."

"Okay honey, what's on your mind?" Lucille thought Gabriella was about to ask about something health related and girly, she didn't expected Gabriella to say what she did next, even though she'd kind of seen it coming.

"I think…I think I might have feelings for Troy. He's been so kind to me since I got here, he's never done anything to hurt me and he always has my best interests at heart, but whenever I'm with him or he's holding me I get these feelings in my stomach and I don't know what they are. Help me Lucille, I'm confused and I don't want this to ruin my friendship with Troy."

"It won't sweetie because I think Troy feels the same way."

"You think?" Gabriella asked timidly.

"Yeah I do," Lucille replied. "Gabriella, Troy is a caring person to who ever he's with and yeah he's had a few girlfriends in the past, but I've never seen him so close to a girl as he has been with you over the past month. At first I just thought he was just being there for you and being a new person for you to turn to after everything you've been through, but the way he talks about you, the way he treats you and the loving look he has when you're around, sweetie he likes you."

"But I don't know what to do about it Lucille, when I get these feelings in my stomach, its like having butterflies in there, why do I get them only around Troy, Lucille?"

"It's because you like him honey, those 'butterflies' as you call them is your body telling you that you feel something more than a normal friendship for Troy."

"But what do I do about it? I can't go on like this, sometimes I feel like I should leave the room when he's around."

"You need to tell him how you feel honey; it's as simple as that."

Gabriella nodded and fiddled with her hands in her lap, as she thought about what to say next. "Could you maybe…talk to him for me? Don't tell him exactly what's happening, but maybe warn him that we need to talk and I'm not sure how to go about it?"

"Okay, how about you go and set the table for me, while I go and get the others to come in and help? You don't need to set a place for Jack tonight though; he's got a meeting and won't be back 'til late." Gabriella nodded her understanding, before sliding off of her stool and heading through to the dining room, while Lucille headed outside to round up her children.

**TGTGTGTG**

Later that evening, as Jessie and Jazzy sat and gossiped in their room and Jack sat downstairs eating his dinner after his meeting over ran, Troy stepped out of Amber and Lillie's room at the same time as Lucille came out of Sam and Sophie's.

"They asleep?" Lucille asked, as she made sure not to shut the door all the way behind her.

"Yeah, they both fell asleep when I was reading to them; I think we managed to ware them out this afternoon."

"Yep I think you did. Have you got any homework to do right now?"

"No I did it all earlier or when I was at school, why? What's up Mum?"

"Nothing honey, I just need to talk to you about something before you go and be in the same room as Gabriella, it's concerning her."

"Okay, what's going Mum? Gabriella doesn't have to leave does she?"

"No it's nothing like that honey, just come and sit in mine and your Dad's room for a minute and I'll explain." Troy nodded his head in understanding and followed Lucille in the main bedroom of the house.

"Gabriella came and spoke to me this afternoon when you guys were playing outside," Lucille began, as she and Troy sat side by side on the foot of the bed. "She managed to tell me she thinks she has feelings for you but didn't want to act on them because she didn't want to ruin your friendship, but I reassured her it wouldn't because I believe you feel the same way, correct?" Troy nodded, beginning to work out where this conversation was heading. "She then she told me she has this feeling in her stomach, like butterflies, whenever you're around her and she didn't want to carry on feeling them because sometimes she felt like she needed to leave the room when you came in just to make them go away. She asked me if I could talk to you and warn you that you two need to talk, so here I am. It took a lot for her to come and speak to me today Troy, so I think it'd be better for her if you went and spoke to her now, while our conversation is still fresh in her mind and she's still up for talking about it. I heard you talking to the others today Troy, and I understand why you're feeling that way, but this doesn't mean you two have to start a relationship or anything, it just means you both know the other has feelings for you and that when the time is right you can act on those feelings, knowing how the other feels, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll go and talk to her now, thanks Mum," Troy gave Lucille a quick hug, before getting up and heading to his own bedroom, where he knew Gabriella had escaped to right after she'd finished helping with the dinner tidy up, no longer being able to handle being around some many people any longer.

**TGTGTGTG**

She tried so hard to stay with them all, she'd even forced herself to stay and help with the clearing up, but as the younger four started to run around the kitchen, it had become too much for her and she'd quietly slipped out of the kitchen. But both Troy and Lucille had seen her go and both knew how much of an effort it had been for her to stay as long as she did and that now she just needed to be alone.

But it was an hour or so later now and Troy was hoping she'd had enough time to herself for him to be able to sit down and talk with her, without her completely freaking out or shutting down on him.

When Troy entered his bedroom, he found Gabriella already in her pyjamas and his hoodie, curled up in bed, reading.

"What ya reading?" Troy asked, making his presence known, as he picked up some pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt to change into and then made his way into his en suite bathroom.

"'The Great Gatsby'," Gabriella replied when Troy came out of the bathroom. "Lucille said it's what you guys are studying in English right now and she thought it might be a good idea for me to read it for when I join you at school, she said I could just borrow your copy. Took me a while to find it though, under all your school stuff."

Troy smiled sheepishly. "Yeah well I'm kinda struggling to understand what's happening, so if I put it under everything else I don't have to try."

"I don't think that'll help Troy, I can help you understand it though, if you like, I've read it before."

"Yeah that'd be really useful, thanks. Gabi, Mum just spoke to me, are you okay to have a chat now?"

Gabriella nodded shyly. "Yeah, I just got to the end of this chapter, so I'm good." Troy smiled softly at her, as she put the book on the bed side table and he took a seat next to her on the bed.

"Mum's right in what she told you, I do have feelings for you Gabi and I'm not going to deny it, but like you I didn't want to act on them, only for a different reason to yours. The first time I saw you Brie, I could see how hurt you were and all I wanted to do was look after and protect you, and I'm hoping that's what I've been doing these past few weeks. I didn't act on my feelings not because I didn't want to ruin our friendship, to be honest that thought hadn't even crossed my mind, I didn't act on them because of everything you've been through. You've been through so much in your life Gabi, things I couldn't even imagine going through, and I know how much it's hurt you, physically, but mostly mentally. I know how much you're suffering and I'm hoping I've been able to help slightly with all that, but I didn't act on my feelings purely because I didn't want to give you something else to throw about in your mind, not with everything else you already have up there."

Gabriella was full on crying by the time Troy had finished speaking, she had worked out that there would be some reason for Troy not telling her his feelings, but she'd never expected it to be this, the fact that he'd kept them inside all because his main priority seemed to be her feelings and health.

"I'm sorry Brie; my intention was never to make you cry." Troy was beginning to feel guilty over saying all of those things to Gabriella.

Gabriella smiled softly through her tears and used the sleeves of Troy's hoodie to wipe away the tear tracks on her face. "It's o-okay Troy, I knew I would c-cry for s-some odd reason, I just n-need to calm down for a m-minute. C-could I maybe have a h-hug while I do?" Troy nodded silently and lifted the bed covers so that he was under them like Gabriella. Laying down he pulled Gabriella down with him, holding her close to him, as she let her emotions flow, both of them realising just how well their bodies fitted together.

"Can I tell you something Troy? Something that I've never told anyone else?" Gabriella asked, a few minutes into their hug.

"'Course you can honey, tell away."

"You're the first guy, other than my Dad and Grandpa, who's ever treated me like this. I've never had a boyfriend Troy, never even been close to it, which is why I didn't know what my 'butterflies' were, I've never felt them before, you're the first guy to ever make me feel this special Troy, so thank you."

"I'm honoured to be the person to make you feel special Brie," Troy responded, as he tightened his grip around Gabriella, liking the feeling of having her in his arms. "Mum told me that just because we know how the other feels doesn't mean we have to start a relationship or anything, we just know how the other is feeling and can act on those feelings when we feel right about it. How do you feel about that?"

"I don't want to go straight into a relationship or anything, I've never had one before and I think that would make me feel like I was being thrown in at the deep end, but I kinda feel like we should have something. I'm not sure what, I just…I think really like you Troy." Troy smiled softly and kissed Gabriella's head lightly, as he thought about what to say next.

"Okay, how about this? I don't know about you, but my main priority is your health and getting you better, so I think we should focus on that. Your cast comes off next week and hopefully your arm will be healed, then we just need to look at how we go about making you feel better in yourself, making you realise that although you have every right to be upset at this moment in time, you are also allowed to be happy and get back to the old Gabriella, I think that's what your Grandparents would have wanted, right? Like when your parents passed away?"

Gabriella was silent for a few minutes before she spoke. "That's what Mum told me when Dad died and then what Grandma and Grandpa told me when Mum died, you're the first person to say it to me after them dying, it helps me to remember that they'd want me to be happy again, so thank you Troy."

"I'm the first person to make you feel special and tell you that being happy is okay, we're doing well, aren't we? And you don't have to thank me; I want you to be happy as much as I'm sure they would. So, let's think this over, we're both saying we like each other and that maybe sometime in the future we'd both like to think about starting a relationship, right?" Gabriella nodded her head from against Troy's chest. "Right, so how about this? We sort out your health and get you back to feeling a bit more like yourself, like the old Gabi, 'cause I think I'd really like to meet her." Troy said, making Gabriella giggle slightly. "Especially if she laughs like that, _anyway,_ we'll get you well on your way to feeling yourself again and then what do you say we maybe try a few dates, just the two of us, here when the others are out, or maybe we could even venture out? Just you and me, so we can get to know each other better and then we can see where things go from there?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah I'd like that, if that's what you want Troy, I don't want you to do things just because of me." Troy sighed and moved them so that they were lying on their sides facing each other.

"Gabi I told you, I like you _a lot, _and getting to go on dates and spend time with you, just the two of us, is exactly what I want, so stop worrying."

"I'm sorry Troy, I always worry, about everything, it's just who I am, I'll try to stop."

"Good, you should, you don't need to worry Gabriella, it's not good for you but, if you're a worrier does that mean you're worried about coming to look around school tomorrow and possibly starting on Monday?"

Looking away from Troy, Gabriella nodded shyly. "What if they don't like me Troy? What if they start asking questions? What if they're horrible to me 'cause I'm friends with you? You're so popular, they'll hate me 'cause I live with you." Gabriella whispered, as a few tears managed to escaped and trickle down her cheeks.

"Hey now, enough with the 'what if's'," Troy replied softly, as he moved his hand from being draped over her waist to wipe away her tears and then hooked his finger under her chin to make her look him in the eye. "I've told you before and I'll tell you again, the gang and I won't let them be horrible and they wouldn't dare anyway if you're with us or know that you'll tell us, we'll protect you, I promise. And I personally promise to be your personal tour guide as much as I can; I'll make sure of it." Troy said, moving his hand back to it's resting place on her waist.

"Really?" Gabriella asked, honoured that Troy would do all that for her.

"Yep, we've all already spoken about your arrival and your classes and everything. Taylor will be your official tour guide and 'buddy' 'cause they always buddy you up with someone the same gender as you, in the hope you'll become friends, but Taylor says she understands if you'd rather be with me, as do the others. You're not in all my classes though, so although I'll walk you to them and introduce you to the teachers, who know all about you by the way, it'll be Taylor who'll be with you in class, that okay?"

"Yeah…yeah of course it is. I can't believe you guys have been arranging all that for me, thank you so much."

"You don't need to thank us, we just wanted it to be easy for you to settle in, oh I get to show you around tomorrow though, you're coming during my free period so I get to show you around."

Gabriella smiled at Troy's eagerness. "That's great Troy thank you. So not that we've got everything settled, you gonna tell me why you don't understand 'The Great Gatsby' it's a great book."

"I'm not saying it isn't," Troy said, as he quickly got out of bed to grab his laptop. "I just get confused easily with it and I asked the teacher but she just gave me these websites to look at, but they just confused me more," he explained, as he crawled back under the covers, but sat up, leaning against the head board so he could rest his laptop on his lap and prove to Gabriella he had looked at the sites. "Look, I've looked at them all, but I still don't get it," Troy said, as he showed Gabriella his laptops internet history, proving he had indeed been on the three sites.

Gabriella sat up and snuggled herself against Troy, who in return wrapped his left arm around her, pulling her close. "I don't understand how, being taught it _and_ having these sites, you still don't get it, but I can help if you'd like?"

"Yes please, it's an exam text, I need to know and understand it."

"Okay, how about I'll help you through understanding these sites and how what they're talking about relates back to the book itself, sound good?"

"Most definitely, thanks Brie," Troy said, gently dropping another kiss onto Gabriella's head, a silent agreement between them, that the kisses were the start of bigger and better things to come.

"There's a DVD of it as well you know? Maybe after we've done this for a bit, we could look for it on the net and then you could buy it and we could watch it, might help you understand it better, putting faces to names and stuff."

"Yeah I think that would help _a lot,_ thanks Gabi. Now Miss Montez, where shall we start? The beginning?"

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh at Troy, as she nodded and grabbed the book from the bedside table, turning it to the start of the story and then looking back at the current website to help Troy relate it back.

The pair stayed that way for the rest of the evening, helping Troy understand the book, but also just spending time together, getting to know each other, a silent agreement flowing between them, that their dates would start happening a lot sooner than they'd first realised.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, hope you like it!**

**Looking at the beginning of this chapter, I realise I started writing it over two weeks ago, when I first got ill, now although I am slightly better, I still haven't gotten it out to you and for that I apologies. I was going to update it tonight, but fanfiction seems to be having some trouble recently and at the minute it seems to be with reviewing, so in the morning, as soon as I know reviewing is working, I'll get it out to ya. So if you're reading this, everything is all working and I've finally gotten chapter seven out to you :)**

**This chapter has a lot of deep talking in it and that's mainly because of how my life is at the minute, if you've read my recent one-shot 'Always' you'll understand, if not, maybe you could all read it for me?**

**Anyways, as always:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	8. This is East High

**Here's the next chapter for you guys!**** Enjoy!**

This is East High

She was nervous, really, really nervous. She was only here for a visit, 'The Grand Tour' Troy had called it this morning, but that didn't make her feel any less of her nerves.

Lucille was dropping her off outside the main entrance of the school, where she'd be met by Troy and Jack, before being taken for a quick meeting with the principal and then being taken on 'The Grand Tour' by Troy.

Lucille pulled the car up at the front of the school, towards the end of lunchtime, meaning there were still students milling around, making Gabriella even more nervous then she was in the first place.

Lucille smiled when she saw Taylor, Chad, Zeke, Sharpay, Kelsi and Ryan all waiting with Jack, as Troy made his way from the main steps towards the car.

"Gabi honey, you will be fine. You'll be with Troy the whole time and by the looks of it you've got a bit of a welcoming party as well. Go in there, see what this place is all about, have some fun being out of the house and with people your own age for once and I'll be back in about and hour and a half, okay?"

Apprehensively, Gabriella nodded and waved goodbye to Sam and Sophie, who were happily waiting to go to the park, before turning and getting out of the car, just as Troy arrived there.

"Hey," Troy greeted, as they waved goodbye to Lucille, Sophie and Sam and he immediately wrapped Gabriella in a hug, sensing her nerves before she'd even looked him in the eye.

Gabriella let down the wall she'd been holding up in front of Lucille and the twins and cried against Troy's chest, wishing that she was anywhere but there. "I c-can't do it T-Troy, I c-can't go in t-there, everyone's already l-looking at me, p-please take m-me home."

"Hey hey hey, come on now shhh, you're alright just calm down, everything is going to be fine, I'm not going to leave your side, I promise, just stop crying please Brie." Slowly Gabriella's tears came to a stop and she allowed Troy to wipe away the tear tracks before they wrapped their arms round each other and Troy lead her to where the others were still standing, now worried over Gabriella's obvious distress.

"She's okay," Troy told the gang and his Dad, as he and Gabriella got close enough for them to hear him. "She's just a bit nervous and overwhelmed by it all, we all know how daunting this place can be the first time you see it."

The others all nodded their agreement. "Yeah, even I was sacred," Chad spoke up. "And I'm not scared of anything."

"Except Shar's dog," Zeke put in.

"Or me, when I'm working you really hard in practise," Jack put in, earning the small smile and giggle from Gabriella, they'd all been hoping for. "Okay people, Troy, Gabriella and I, have a meeting with Principal Matsui to get to and you all have work to go and do, so shoo, see you in practise boys." The wildcats gave a goodbye in unison, before heading inside to get some work done in their free period.

"Dad, is it okay if we just make a quick stop off at the bathrooms on the way to meet Principal Matsui, I think Gabi would appreciate being able to wash her face."

"Yeah of course, that's fine, you two stop off there, I'll go meet with the Principal and we'll see you in his office in a few, okay?" Troy nodded and keeping a tight grip around Gabriella, lead her into East High for the first time.

**TGTGTGTG**

"And this, is the place I spend most of my time here at East High, the gym," Troy said, as he pushed open the door with his free hand, his other interlaced with Gabriella's unbroken one since the beginning of his tour, something neither of them were gonna change anytime soon, it was another one of their silent agreements.

They wandered into the gym to find Chad and Zeke playing a game of one on one, while the others sat on the bleachers, half watching the boys, half gossiping, apparently having already done their work. They stood for a minute and watched, as Chad stood with his back to the net as he tried to stop Zeke making a shot. Zeke bounced the ball from left to right and right to left, contemplating what his options were, before faking his shot to the left, and taking the split second in which Chad had gone left, to go to the right and make the shot, watching as the ball rolled round the rim of the hoop once before dropping through the hoop with a swish, nothing but net.

"I'd say," Troy started, as he led Gabriella over to the others. "That judging by Chad's reaction, that shot Zeke just made, meant he won." Gabriella giggled softly, as she looked over at Chad, who after realising he'd lost, flopped down onto the gym floor, his legs and arms spread out as if he were about to make a snow angel.

"Hey guys, how's the tour going?" Ryan asked, as he and the others turned round to face Troy and Gabriella, who'd taken a seat behind them.

"All done," Troy answered, unlinking his had from Gabriella's and wrapping his arm round her instead, silently giving her permission to lay her head on his shoulder, he knew she was tired, today was a lot for her to take in. "If I haven't completely worn her out or put her off, Gabi should be starting Monday, but we'll just have to wait and see."

"What do you think though Gabi?" Taylor asked, taking her attention away from Chad, who wasn't showing any signs of moving in the near future. "You think you'd like to join us? Despite the fact Troy clearly took you to every possible part of the school grounds."

Gabriella giggled softly against Troy's shoulder. "Yeah I like it here, it's completely different to my old school, you guys are way more passionate about team spirit and you school, but the staff seems friendly as well and Principal Matsui r_eally_ wants me here seeing as he has my grades from my old school, apparently, I've got _big_ potential."

"That's because you _have_," Troy answered, almost in a whine. "I saw your grades in there Gabi, they're amazing, B's, A's and even A*'s, I can only dream of getting those grades."

"He's right Gabi, they are really good grades, but you need to focus on settling in first, once you've done that you'll be fine. We'll all be here to help you and Jack's always around her somewhere and I'm sure if it came to it Lucille would only be a phone call away."

"Taylor's right on everything, as usual, but anyway change of topic," Troy said, sensing by Gabriella's body language that she didn't like having this conversation. "Why is Chad still laying in the middle of the floor?"

"Because he's a bad loser," another voice answered. The group all turned to see Jack entering the gym from his office. "Danthorth! Get up from my gym floor or you'll be the reason the whole team is running laps in practise tonight." Chad immediately shot up from the floor, not wanting to be hated by his team mates later that day.

"You bored of your paper work already Dad?" Troy asked, as he softly ran his hand up and down Gabriella's back, sensing her sudden quietness and tenseness and wanting to silently reassure her she was okay.

"No…okay yeah I am, but it's gotta be done...unfortunately. I just popped out to say, your Mum just called, she's now heading over here and asked if you and Gabi could go and wait outside for her because the twins are well on their way to sleep."

"Okay, thanks Dad, we'll make our way out there now," Troy replied, as he stood up and offered his hand to Gabriella, lacing their fingers together to pull her up and then securely wrapping an arm round her, as they said a quick goodbye to the others and headed outside.

"He really cares for her, doesn't he coach?" Chad asked, as they heard the gym doors shut behind Troy and Gabriella. "I mean, I've seen him with other kids Lucille has brought home and yeah he's cared for all of them, but there's something different with Gabi, like Troy would truly do _anything_ to help her get back to herself I guess."

"That's one of the most logical things I've ever heard you say Chad and scarily, you are very right to say it," Jack said, as he turned and headed back to his office and the rest of his paper work, leaving the rest of the gang to laugh at Chad's pouting at Jack's comment.

**TGTGTGTG**

Gabriella was hiding, well not exactly hiding, Lucille knew where she was and she had an Sophie with her, but Troy and the gang didn't know where she was, and that was who she was hiding from.

It wasn't that she didn't like their friendliness towards her or the way they'd accepted her without question, she did, that meant a lot to her. It was just there was a lot of them, it was like meal times with the Bolton's, something she couldn't quite handle yet, something that caused her to freak out and panic, something she didn't want the wildcats to see.

Yeah, they knew what she'd been through and how certain things had different affects on her right now, but they didn't need to see her in that state and after her quietness in east high's gym today, she wanted to keep away from them for now, in fear of them all asking her questions or trying to reassure her, something she knew would surely send her over the edge, despite it all being out of kindness.

So, just before the wildcats had all arrived back after their after school activities, she'd spoken to Lucille and told her where she was heading, she just wanted to be alone, that hadn't quite gone to plan.

After waking up from her nap, Sophie had spent most of the afternoon with Gabriella and upon realising the older girl was leaving her, Sophie got upset. Lucille managed to calm her down and after giving Sophie her dolly she took her down to the basement where Gabriella was 'hiding', knowing it was the only way Sophie would really be happy. Gabriella agreed to have Sophie with her, seeing as their playing and the toddler's crying had worn her worn her out and she was well on the way to sleep.

Now though, as Gabriella finished reading the welcome pack she'd been given at east high and Sophie began to get whiney because she was hungry, Gabriella realised it was time to come out of 'hiding'.

"Okay Sophie, how about we go and find your Mummy and see if she's got a little snack for you?" Gabriella broke the silent bubble she and Sophie had been in.

Sophie nodded eagerly and stood up from her spot on the floor, leaning against the sofa, only to fall back down after her legs decided they didn't want to work.

"Wopsey daisy! Careful honey, you legs don't work so well when you've just woken up, do they?" Gabriella said, as she went over to Sophie with her arms outstretched, her fingers wiggling towards the little girl. Sophie raised her arms and allowed Gabriella to pick her up, before wrapping her arms tightly around Gabriella and snuggling against her as they headed upstairs in search of Lucille and a snack.

"Sammy," Sophie shouted once they reached the kitchen and found Sam running round the kitchen island while Lucille was preparing him and Sophie a snack. Sam stopped in his tracks when he saw his twin and went over to Gabriella, pulling on her jean leg until she bent down to his level, allowing him and Sophie to hug.

"Here you two, come eat these," Lucille said, as she walked though to the lounge with the twins' snacks, knowing Gabriella would bring Sophie and that Sam was likely to follow. She placed the bowls of cut up apple on the floor and put the telly on the twins' favourite programme, watching them get settled before taking a seat with Gabriella on the couch.

"Troy keeps coming in to see if you'll go out, I have to keep telling him you'll come out in time, you don't want to go out though, do you honey?" Gabriella shock her head, as she fiddled with her fingers in her lap. "Why not sweetie? They're having a lot of fun out there, why stay in here?"

"There's a lot of them Lucille and I'm not sure if I can handle it, but if I can't handle being with them, how am I gonna handle going to school on Monday?" Gabriella questioned, as a few silent tears slipped from her eyes.

"Oh honey, please don't worry and get upset about it all, we'll see how you are on Monday as to whether you go to school, so don't worry about that. If you went outside right now you wouldn't have to do anything you didn't want to you know? I think the boys have finished playing and they're all just sitting round chatting now anyway." Lucille said, as she wrapped Gabriella in a tight hug. "How about we go outside and I'll pull Troy over and have a word, he told me about your chat honey, he wouldn't want you upset."

Gabriella nodded and wiped away her tears. "I know, but what about those two while we go outside?"

"Jack's upstairs with Amber and Lillie, you go wash your face in the downstairs loo and I'll shout up to him and ask him to come down, alright?" Gabriella again nodded and went to pull herself together before facing the wildcats.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy was the only one who seems to hear the back door open and close and so was the only one to turn and see who'd come out. He smiled when he saw it was his Mum and Gabriella who'd come out, but his smile faltered when he saw how self conscious Gabriella looked, with her arms wrapped round her self and it didn't take him long to realise she was upset. He was up and out of his chair before Lucille hadn't even started to wave him over, not caring what his friends and sisters thought, but needing to get to Gabriella and simply comfort her.

"Brie, what's going on? Why are you upset?" Gabriella backed away from Troy and partially hid herself behind Lucille, causing Troy to turn to his Mum for help. "Mum, what's going on? Why's Gabi been crying?"

"Troy, calm down please. We came out here because Gabriella would like to come and join you guys, but is worried about how many of you there are. So, I've come with her to talk to you because I knew you wouldn't want her getting herself upset over this and because she could probably use one of your hugs right now." Troy nodded his understanding. "Are you okay for me to go back inside now Gabi?" Gabriella nodded wordlessly and allowed Lucille to give her a quick hug before she went back inside.

"Come here sweetheart," Troy held his arms open and let Gabriella step into them, her arms wrapping round his waist, as he gently ran his hands up and down her back. Troy knew she'd started crying again when he heard her sniffling and felt a wetness against his shirt, but he didn't react, he just continued to hold her, not caring about the looks his friends and especially his sisters where giving him behind his back.

"Come sit with us," Troy said, pulling back from the hug and cupping Gabriella's face in his hands, his thumbs busy wiping away her falling tears. "You don't have to join in with the conversation, just come and sit on my lap, let me hold you. It won't matter what the others say or think, I'll deal with them if I need to, they'll probably just think I'm comforting you anyway, they don't know about our conversation, but please Brie, I don't want you to go back inside and sit by yourself, I want to be able to comfort you."

"I'd quite like it if you'd hold me Troy, I just wanna feel safe and loved right now; I think it'll be easier for me to handle being in a group as well."

"Come on then lovely, lets go and see what crazy things these guys are talking about now," Troy said before planting a soft kiss on Gabriella's forehead and then lacing their fingers together and leading her over to the others, his feelings for her clear to the others, especially his sisters, who'd been watching the whole exchange.

**TGTGTGTG**

She'd had one of her worst nights sleep since arriving at the Bolton's and therefore hadn't even woken up 'til ten o'clock, by which time she was far too late for the start of school. _But_ once she was up, showered and dressed, she realised that she did quite enjoy being at school and being with people her own age and had asked Lucille whether it was possible for her to go in for her afternoon lessons. Lucille had said if that's what she wanted then that's what she got and that she would drop her off on the way to see Jack's parents with Sophie and Sam.

The only thing different about today's and Fridays visits was that Gabriella wasn't completely nervous about going in there and the other big difference was that she was being met by Taylor instead of Troy.

Lucille had offered to contact Troy and get him to meet Gabriella outside the school at the beginning of lunch, but Gabriella had declined the offer and asked if she could phone Taylor instead, wanting to surprise Troy because she was there, knowing how worried he'd been about her during the night.

Gabriella got out of the car and waved Lucille and the twins off before turning and happily giving Taylor a hug. "Thanks for doing this Taylor; I really want to surprise Troy by being here."

"It's no problem, honestly Gabi, Troy has been pretty worried about you all morning so I'm sure this will be a great surprise for him. When do you get your cast off?" Taylor enquired, as they made their way into the building.

"Friday," Gabriella answered. "And I can't wait, it's gonna be so much easier and quicker to shower without it and I'll be able to play with the little ones, I kinda feel bad having to say no when they want me to play on the trampoline or do something energetic with them."

"Yeah I can imagine that would be hard, anyway," Taylor started, as they stood outside the canteen doors. "You ready to go in?"

"As I'll ever be." 

"Okay, well Troy usually sits with his back to the door so he won't see us come in and Chad's told the other's not to react when they see you, so lets go," Taylor said, as she pushed open the doors and lead Gabriella over to the gang's usual table, noticing the looks in the other's eyes as they approached.

"Sorry I'm late guys" Taylor greeted, as she took a seat at the table, leaving Gabriella standing behind Troy. "I had to go and meet someone one."

"Yeah?" Troy questioned, not seeing anyone else around. "Who?"

"Me," Gabriella answered, as she placed her hands on Troy's shoulders, causing his head to whip round and his mouth to open in shock.

"You…you're here. You were still in bed when I left…now you're here. I don't understand…how? Why?" Gabriella laughed as she kept her castless arm around Troy's shoulders, while his left had slipped round her waist.

"I woke up at ten and didn't feel so great, but once I'd eaten and was dressed I realised that I wanted to be here, with you guys, so I asked Lucille and she said that if I wanted to come then she'd bring me on her way to Jack's parents, so here I am."

"I still don't get it though…Taylor came and met you, how did she know you were coming?"

"Lucille offered to phone you, to get you to come and meet me out the front, but I asked her to if she could phone Taylor instead 'cause I wanted to surprise you…and apologies for worrying you so much last night."

"What happened last night?" Chad asked through a mouthful of chips, earning him a smack round the back of the head from Taylor.

"I had a really bad night's sleep," Gabriella answered honestly. "I couldn't sleep and then when I did I kept having nightmares which in turn woke Troy up, which made me feel even worse 'cause I knew he needed to come here today, but he refused to go back to sleep until I did, I could tell he was tired, but he was also really worried about me and I just wanted to say sorry for worrying him so much and for making him lose sleep because of me last night." Troy didn't answer to Gabriella's apology verbally, just stood up and gave her a hug, happy that she felt she was able to be there.

"Have you had lunch yet?" Troy suddenly asked, pulling back from their hug to look Gabriella in the face. "They're still serving food if you want some."

"No I haven't had lunch yet, so yes, that would be nice. Lucille said if I wanted anything to ask you to pay and then she'd pay you back later, if that's okay?"

"It sounds more than okay to me, come on," Troy said, lacing his fingers with Gabriella's and taking her bag to leave at the table with the others. "Let's go get you _food_…I can't believe you're here." Gabriella giggled at Troy as she allowed him to lead her over to the serving area, now more than happy she'd asked Lucille to bring her in.

**TGTGTGTG**

Smiling as he saw her approaching, Troy made one final shot, watching the ball swish through the net, before walking over to his bottle and taking a long drink from it.

It was the evening now and after staying at school until the boys had finished basketball practise, Gabriella had come home extremely thankful towards Lucille for letting her go to school to begin with.

Now, as Jessie and Jazzy were lazing in their room watching the telly and Jack and Lucille were finishing putting the little ones to bed, Troy had come out to shot some free throws, while Gabriella _was_ finishing off her only piece of homework.

"Hey," Troy greeted, as he finished with his drink and threw it over into the garden bin. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Gabriella answered simply.

"No you're not," Troy replied. "What's up?" Gabriella shrugged and gave in to her bottom lip trembling and let the tears begin to fall.

"Hey now, come here lovely, don't cry," Troy took Gabriella into his arms and held her close, as she began to tremble from her crying and being outside in only her pyjamas. "Come on, let's go inside and get you snuggled in bed and then we can talk. Can I carry you? Keep you warm?" Gabriella nodded silently and allowed Troy to scoop her into his arms bridal style, before burying her face into the crook of his neck, the tears still continuing to fall.

Fifteen minutes later, Troy slid into bed next to Gabriella and allowed her to get comfortable in his arms, before he spoke. "So, are these tears for anything in particular or is this just one of those situations where I need so shut up and just let you cry?"

Gabriella giggled. "I-I think it's o-one of those s-situations, you d-don't need to s-shut up though."

"Okay thanks," Troy chuckled. "So, did something in particular set you off or did they just come uninvited?" Troy asked the question he asked every time Gabriella's crying happened, knowing it cheered her up, even if slightly.

Gabriella shrugged. "I'm not s-sure really, I think doing my homework k-kinda reminded me of h-how things used to be and today has made m-me pretty t-tired, even though I was only there h-half a day."

"But half a day is better than nothing at all and I'm really proud of you for coming in half a day, considering only the other day you were wary of just being with the gang, I'm really proud of you honey."

"T-thanks," Gabriella replied, as a yawn escaped her and she cuddled herself closer to Troy.

"Okay, whether you come into school for a full or half day tomorrow we both need to get some sleep," Troy said, as he rolled over slightly to set his alarm and turn off the light.

"Thank you Troy." Gabriella said, once Troy rolled back.

"Anytime honey and you know it. Listen, you get your cast off on Friday and that'll be a week of you being at school, would you maybe want to go on a date on Friday night and then spend Saturday together?"

"As in like trying out our relationship?"

"Yeah, but only if you're ready, don't feel like you have to. I just thought we could celebrate you being at school for a week, full days or not, and that fact you'll have your cast off as well."

"Yes."

"Yes?" Troy asked confused.

"Yes I'd love to go on a date with you Friday night and then spend Saturday together."

"Great, I'll get planning, any requests?"

"Nope, just me and you," Gabriella answered with a blush.

"Fair enough, now that we've got that covered, it really is time to go to sleep, night Brie."

"Night Troy." Troy kissed Gabriella's forehead and pulled her closer, happy that today had gone so well and that they were going to get their first official date.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is for you guys, chapter eight, hope you liked it!**

**As always:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	9. Secrets

**Well I'm glad you all liked the last chapter, so here's the next one for you, enjoy!**

Secrets

Everyone had their favourite place to sit, their table in the canteen or their corner of the filed outside and generally everyone knew who sat where and respected that's how it was. But today it seemed like someone had ignored that rule because someone was sat under the tree which Jessie, Jazzy, Jenna and Jemma occupied at lunch times, only today they were being joined by Jake.

"Looks like someone's taken our spot," Jenna pointed out, as they walked over to 'their' tree, located around the side of the school field, not too far from the building.

"I'm sure we can another tree or ask them to move," Jemma responded. "It's not like we own the tree." The group of friends laughed, as they continued their walk to their tree, until Jessie stopped them dead in their tracks.

"They're crying," she simply stated, confusing her friends and sister.

"Who is?" Jake asked, really confused.

"The person under our tree, a girl…hang on a minute, isn't that Gabi?" Jessie asked, turning to her twin for confirmation.

"Yeah it is…erm why don't we settle under the tree next to hers and then I'll be able to judge how bad it is, sometimes if she gets really upset only certain people can get her out of it." The friends agreed and moved to sit under the tree next to their usual one, where Jazzy was able to assess just how bad the situation was.

It wasn't hard to figure out; Gabriella was sat leaning against the tree, her knees pulled to her chest, her arms wrapped round her legs and her head resting on her knees. They could hear her crying from where they were, and that was a good few feet away, she was seriously upset about something.

"I think we should go and get Troy, I don't wanna risk going over and upsetting her more, I think he'll know how to handle it and might even know what's wrong.

"I'll go," Jake offered. "He'll be in the canteen, right?"

"Yeah I'd of thought so, we'll stay here and keep an eye on her," Jazzy responded, as Jake left his bag with the girls and took off to find Troy.

It didn't take him long; he was at his usual table with the rest of the seniors, but unlike other sophomores Jake didn't feel threatened by a table full of seniors, he knew them all to well.

"Jakey boy," Chad greeted, using his usual nickname for the boy. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"It's not really a pleasure, sorry Chad, I just came in to get Troy because Gabriella is sat under the girls usual tree and she's crying really badly, Jazzy didn't want to upset her more and said you might be able to deal with it better or maybe even know what's wrong?"

"I don't know what's wrong but I'll come and see her, lead the way," Troy said, as he gathered his belongings and followed Jake, knowing his friends would be hot on his tail.

They got to the girls quickly and they all looked a lot more worried than when Jake had left them. "She's gotten worse since we've been here Troy, she doesn't know we're here, I don't think she'd be crying so loudly if she did," Jazzy said quickly, her worry coming through in her voice.

"It's alright Jazz, don't worry, I'll talk to her, just stay here and eat some lunch okay?" Troy asked, as he placed his bag down by the tree. "Jake look after her will ya? Make sure she eats something, make sure they all do, she'll be fine girls, I'm sure of it." Troy said, as he made sure Jazzy was safely in Jake's arms before making his way over to Gabriella.

**TGTGTGTG**

She wanted to get rid of her cast, the last reminder of the accident, of that fatal day, but that meant doing the one thing she never wanted to do ever again, going back to the hospital.

It had hit her suddenly, on her way to the canteen with Taylor, and so she'd excused herself to go to the toilet, telling Taylor she'd meet her there. She _had_ gone to the toilet, to try and calm herself down, but it didn't work, there were too many girls in there, gossiping, so she left and gone outside, to get some fresh air and cry, that was all she really wanted to do right now. She picked a tree that wasn't surrounded by anyone and simply sat under it and cried, hoping to let out all of her emotions before she went to meet the others, but the tears hadn't stopped and it seemed the others had found her.

"Gabi?" It was Troy and she knew, she could hear the others as well, but she didn't care about that, she just wanted Troy. She lifted her head to look him in the eye, not even attempting to smile or reassure him. She patted the ground next to her, answering Troy's next unasked question and watching silently as he plopped down next to her and then took her into his arms, rocking them both softly from side to side, her sobs becoming louder and louder, scaring Troy more and more as time went by.

"Chad," Troy called his friend over, knowing he'd need his help the most right now. "I need to get her out of here," he explained, as his friend knelt down next to him. "Somewhere where there's no one else around, I'm gonna take her to Dad in his office, but I don't wanna take her through the school, it'll make her hysteric."

"Okay, so what do you need me to do?" Chad asked, willing to do anything to help right now.

"Go to my Dad and tell him what's happening, ask him to open the side door to the gym, I'm gonna bring Gabi round that way, it's locked and he's the only one with the key. The others can go with you and wait in the gym 'cause I'm gonna take her straight through to Dad's office, where she's away from everything and it's quiet, I think it'll calm her down quicker."

Chad nodded and placed a comforting hand on Gabriella's shoulder. "Hang in there Gabs, you're gonna be okay," he said, before getting up and turning to the others, taking them all with him to give Troy some space with Gabriella.

"Hey lovely, I know you're not in the mood to talk right now, but I need you to listen to me, alright?" Gabriella nodded slightly against Troy's chest and he continued. "I'm gonna take you inside, away from everyone else, I'm gonna take you to Dad's office," Troy felt Gabriella tense at the thought of the other students seeing her like this. "It's alright honey calm down, I'm gonna take you round the side of the building and into the gym through the side door and into Dad's office that way, the only people who will see you are the gang, the girls and Jake, it's all going to be okay sweetheart, I promise you." Troy said, as he momentarily let go of Gabriella to stand up, before crouching back down and taking her into his arms bridal style. "Come on lovely; let's get you out of here."

**TGTGTGTG**

Twenty minutes.

It had taken him twenty minutes to figure out why she was so upset and of course the answer was obvious.

"Brie, I need to go and talk to my Dad, I won't be long, I promise, you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, is there somewhere I can tidy up?" Gabriella asked, her tear stains dried on her aching, red face.

"Yeah, there's a toilet just outside, to the left, alright?" Gabriella nodded and let Troy place one more of many soft kisses onto her forehead before he left.

He walked into the gym to find the boys, including Jack, questioning Jake, while Jazzy was trying to stop them. "What do you think hoops?" Chad asked. "Think these two had the right to keep their relationship a secret?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah I do, I would, and you lot have proved why. I'm betting they kept it quiet to stop you lot ganging up on Jake and questioning him, right Jazz?" Jasmine simply nodded. "See? Now shut up and leave the poor boy alone, if anyone gets to question him, it's me, not even you Dad. We will talk Jake, just not in quite as harsh a way as these guys have planned," Jake smiled at this, relived Troy didn't seem to be overly bothered by him and Jazzy dating. "Anyway, Dad can I borrow you a minute?" Jack nodded and gave the basket ball back to Jake, who did have possession until the boys had started their questioning.

"What's up son?" Jack asked, once he and Troy were in the hallway that connect the gym and the locker rooms. "Is Gabi okay?"

"Yes and no, I think she's really worried about having her cast taken off because it means she's gotta go back to the hospital and being there reminds her of _that_ night, she completely closes up, I had to do all the talking when I took her to have her arm looked at. Is there any way I can go with her and Mum?"

"I thought your Mum said you could go as well, maybe she didn't get the chance to tell you, I don't know, either way you can go with them. I'm not running practise tonight so I can be at home with the others so you're free to go, just be at home and ready to leave by four because her appointment is at half past, okay?"

"Yeah thanks Dad, I'm gonna try and reassure her, she's calmed down a lot since the others first found her."

"Good I'm glad, oh and Troy?" 

"Yeah?" 

"When you do speak to Jake, go easy on him, he's a good kid and Jazzy clearly likes him, they're good together."

"I know Dad, I was just gonna give him some tips on her favourite food and such and then thank him for making her so happy recently, that's all."

Jack smiled. "You're to good for your own good sometimes Troy, too good," Troy just shrugged and smiled sheepishly, before leaving his Dad and making his way back to Gabriella.

She was still sat where he'd left her, but Troy suspected she'd gone to tidy up, as she'd said, as her face wasn't as red and her tear stains seemed to have gone.

"So my lovely lady," Troy said, as he plopped down next to her on the couch in Jack's office. "I have figured out why you were so upset."

"Really?" Gabriella asked, her voice quiet.

"Really," Troy replied, his voice just as quiet, as he lifted his arm and allowed Gabriella to snuggle into his left side. "You're worried about going back to the hospital aren't you?"

"I know I shouldn't be because I've been there again since_ that_ night, but it still scares me Troy."

"I know it does lovely, I can understand that, you hardly spoke when we got your arm looked at remember? But it's gonna be okay this time, just like it was then. Dad just told me, he thinks Mum forgot because she was supposed to, that I can come with you today. We're gonna leave home at four because you're appointment is at half four and then when we get home you're gonna go have you're first shower without you're cast and get ready for our date, okay?"

"I think I can deal with that, where we going? What do I need to wear?"

"Casual stuff, stuff you feel comfortable in, as for where we're going I can't tell you, but I think you'll like it, so you're okay, just meet me in the kitchen at seven, alright? That gives you about two hours to get ready if we get home at five, maybe a little less depending on traffic."

Gabriella smiled. "Thank you Troy, I think I can get through having this thing taken off now."

"It's no problem, anytime lovely, and you know it."

**TGTGTGTG**

"Hey Jake," Lucille greeted the young man, who'd made quite an impression on one of her daughters. "Jazzy's still getting ready so of course you're not allowed up, but Troy's pottering about outside sorting stuff out for him and Gabi tonight, I think he could probably use a hand, if you're up for it?"

"Yeah I think I can handle that Mrs B, what's he up to out there anyway?" Jake asked, as he followed Lucille through to the kitchen.

"I have no idea, but while you go and find out, could you take these out for me?" Jake nodded and took the boxes off of the kitchen counter.

"The stuff inside the hamper is hot, Troy knows what it is and it should stay warm, it's in heat proof containers and stuff. The one on top of it is slightly cold because it has drinks and desert in it, he knows what's in there as well, just make sure he keeps them separate and you'll be fine."

"Will do Mrs B," Jake said, as he turned and headed out into the Bolton's back yard to find Troy climbing down from his tree house.

"Hey captain," Jake greeted. "Mrs B said these are for you and that you should know what they are."

"Oh hey Jake and if that's the hot and cold stuff then yeah I know what they are, couldn't give me a hand carrying them up could ya?"

"Sure thing," Jake answered, letting Troy take the bigger, hot box from him, before following him over to the tree and then up the ladder into the now beautifully decorated tree house.

"Wow Troy it looks amazing in here, Gabi must mean a lot to you," Jake said, as he gave the cold box to Troy and let him put it where he wanted it.

"You're right she does, but I just wanted to make her feel special tonight, you and me both know how tough it's been for her recently, I just want her to be able to forget and enjoy herself for a while, just like you want for Jazzy I guess."

"I really like her Troy, I didn't think keeping us a secret would cause so much trouble."

"It hasn't, not with me anyway, she's been really happy since you came that day and spoke to her Jake, the smile has hardly ever left her face and that means a lot to me, knowing how happy she is. To be honest I don't blame you for keeping it a secret, there's a lot more going on between me and Gabi than just me looking after her, but we're not gonna tell anyone, it'll just be way too much fuss for her to handle, just like it would've been for Jazzy."

"Yeah, when I asked her out she didn't answer straight away, she actually cried. I finally managed to get it out of her that she was worried what everyone would think, but didn't want to say anything because she was worried I would think she was ashamed of me. I assured her I would never think that and that if she wanted to keep things quiet for a while that would be fine with me, so that's how it's been for a couple of weeks now. Things are just simple between us Troy, I swear, we hold hands, cuddle, share the odd little kiss when we're alone, I even laid with the other week and held a my Mum's water bottle against her stomach because she had period pain," they both had to chuckle at that. "I'm serious Troy, she means a lot to me, I really like her, I would never hurt her."

"I know that Jake and Dad does as well, he only joined in today for the fun of it, he knows how happy Jazzy has been recently he isn't, daft, just don't hurt her in any way, or I _will_ let the boys question you, very seriously."

"I won't Troy, you have my word."

"Good, now where you taking her tonight?"

"I'm not sure yet, I was gonna ask her what she fancied to eat and then go from there, you Mum is dropping us off at the retail park so we can go to the cinema afterwards, so anything there I guess, why?"

"She really likes Italian food, especially pizza and there's a really great Italian restaurant there, does great pizza, the big ones that you can share, but have different toppings are great, take her there, she will love it."

"You think?"

"Yeah I do, now come on, Jessie will want to get going to Jenna's and she's been picked up by Jemma. Jazzy should be ready by now and I'm thinking Gabi is probably playing with my siblings having been ready for ages," Jake chuckled at what Troy had to say, before following him out of the tree house and down the ladder, feeling like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders now that both Troy and Jack were happy for him and Jazzy to be dating.

**TGTGTGTG**

The tree house looked amazing, so much so that Gabriella was speechless when she arrived. Troy had hung fairy lights all around, giving it a really romantic feel along with the fading darkness outside.

Now, the food had been eaten, Chinese food, something Gabriella had mentioned only ever eating once and so Troy had ordered some from his favourite takeaway, giving her the chance to try it again. Desert had been an amazing slice of chocolate from Troy's favourite cake shop, a big slice which the pair had shared and enjoyed feeding to each other.

Now they were laying cuddled up together, with pillows under their heads, well if you called Troy a pillow, then yeah Gabriella had a pillow under her head, blankets under them, so they weren't laying directly on the floor and one wrapped tightly around them, especially Gabriella, who'd quickly gotten cold in her summery dress and cardigan. Troy had opened the roof and they were just laying there comfortable in the others arms, enjoying the moment and occasionally pointing out especially bright stars.

"So Miss Montez, is there anything is particular you want to do tomorrow?" Troy asked, breaking their comfortable silence.

"Not really," Gabriella answered. "I don't really know what there is to do around here anyway, I didn't used to go out much, remember?"

"Yeah I remember, but I just that you might know some places. Okay, how about we head to the beach? There's a fun fair there at the moment as well, well in a near by field, but still, sound good?"

"Definitely, I haven't been to the beach in ages, Grandpa didn't like driving that far as he got older and Grandma didn't drive so we didn't go, can we really go Troy?"

"If you want to lovely, then of course we can. But I have a question to ask." Troy said, as he rolled onto his side and waited for Gabriella to do the same, before resting his arm back over her waist and re-intertwining their legs.

"What question?" Gabriella asked, as she pulled the blanket up higher, causing Troy to pull her closer.

"Well you see, I kinda wanna take my girlfriend to the beach and fun fair with me tomorrow and seeing as I'm going with you, what do you say? Be my girlfriend Gabriella?"

"Would we have to tell anyone?"

"Not if you don't want to honey, not straight away, we can't hide it forever, I'll want the world to know you're my girlfriend one day, but for now, it can be our little secret, alright?" Troy asked, his voice soft and soothing towards Gabriella.

"Sounds perfectly alright to me, so yes Troy, I'd love to be your girlfriend." Troy smiled and leaned in to place a quick kiss on Gabriella lips, taking her by surprise and causing her to pull back.

"Hey hey hey, it's okay," Troy soothed, pulling her to him and allowing her to hide her now blushing face into the crook of his neck, as he rolled back onto his back, pulling Gabriella with him, causing her to be laying half on him, half off.

"I'm sorry Troy, I've never done this before, I have no idea what to expect…or do." Gabriella admitted from her hiding place.

"Then I guess you'll have to learn, won't you? Honestly Brie, you'll be fine, there's no rule of how it should or shouldn't be, it's just what's right for each couple and I reckon for us; cuddles, hand holding and the odd kiss sounds good for now, the rest will come in time honey, what ever is right for you will do, okay?"

Gabriella nodded and moved herself so that she and then Troy were laying back on their sides and this time, she leaned in capturing Troy's lips in a short, sweet, but very passion filled kissed, one that left them cuddled together that way for the rest of the evening, basking in the idea that they now both had someone to call their own.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, chapter nine for you and up quite quickly since the last one, you proud of me?**

**Next chapter: Troy and Gabi's day out and more :) I don't know when it'll be out because school starts up again on Tuesday and then there's exams soon, but I do have a long weekend soon, so you never know, but I'll try my hardest to get another out to you soon!:)!**

**As always:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	10. One Step Closer

**Chapter ten already? Wow, I can't believe how many reviews there are for just nine chapters, let's see how many we can get it to with chapter ten, enjoy!**

One Step Closer

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he padded down the hallway that lead from his bedroom, in search of the beautiful brunette he now called his girlfriend.

Girlfriend.

It wasn't like he hadn't had them before, he had, but being with Gabriella, caring for her, seeing her smile of hearing her laugh, made him feel that special tingle inside.

The time was somewhere around eight thirty and although that wasn't early for someone who woke up even earlier for school most mornings, he'd still planned on staying snuggled down in bed for much longer with _his_ girl, but there was a slight issue with that plan, _his_ girl wasn't there.

He'd woken up and realised Gabriella was no longer snuggled up against him, so he turned and reached for her, but when he realised she wasn't there, that immediately woke him up. If she wasn't there with him, sleeping, resting, then he couldn't sleep, he needed to find her.

Troy arrived on the main landing, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes, but stopped when he saw two little faces poking in and out from behind a door, neither girl quite brave enough to come out.

"What are you two doing?" Troy asked two of his little sisters, who stopped their whispering and opened their bedroom door fully to hug him once he dropped down to their height.

"We're awake," Amber responded, he right arm still round Troy, while her left absentmindedly played with the bottom of her nightie.

"Can we go downstairs now Troy?" Lillie asked, replicating her sister's actions, only as if she were looking in a mirror at her. The girls had know from a young age that they weren't allowed to go downstairs in the mornings unless there was an adult or one of their older siblings with them. Lillie and Amber had taken this to the extreme and didn't leave their room in the mornings unless they _knew_ people were up and about or someone came and got them.

"Yeah, come on," Troy replied, standing up and offering them a hand each to hold. "I'm trying to find Gabi 'cause she wasn't there when I woke up, I think she's probably already down here." Troy said, as they reached the bottom of the stairs, but upon hearing his youngest sibling's laughter, he realised that like him, Gabriella wasn't alone.

"What's going on in here then?" Troy asked, as he and the girls arrived in the lounge. Gabriella was sat on the floor, tickling Sam and Sophie, who were trying their hardest to escape her fingers. She stopped when Sam and Sophie started to try and reach for Troy and once they'd given him a hug, they went off to play with Amber and Lillie at the other end of the room.

Gabriella pulled herself up onto the couch and Troy plopped down next to her, pulling her legs over his lap, so that she was sat leaning against him sideways, his left arm wrapped round her waist holding her against him, while his right hand took hold of her left and laced together their fingers. "Hey," Troy finally greeted, before sending a quick glance towards his siblings and planting a soft peck on her cheek.

"Morning," Gabriella greeted burying her head into the crook of Troy's neck and cuddling herself closer to him.

"How long have you been up?" Troy questioned a constant eye on his siblings.

"Dunno, not quite an hour, forty five minutes maybe, I lost track of time playing with them."

"How come you got up anyway?"

"I…my wrist was hurting and they said it probably would Troy so don't worry, but it was really bugging me, so I got up to come and get some painkillers, but when I walked passed their room I heard these two, so I changed them and then we came down here and just played I guess, and yes I did take some painkillers in the end, don't worry."

"I'm sorry, but I worry about you, especially now that you're _my _girl."

"_Your_ girl?"

"Yeah…sorry that sounded kinda possessive, I take that back." Troy said leaning his head against Gabriella's.

"No it's okay, I kinda like it, I've never been _someone's_ girl before, makes me feel wanted."

"Brie you will always be wanted, your parents, Grandparents they all wanted you, just life got in the way, but you will _always_ be wanted here." Gabriella just smiled and nuzzled her face into Troy's neck.

"I thought I heard voices," Lucille said appearing in the doorway. "Well actually, I kinda wondered who was looking after those four, thanks guys."

"It's not a problem Mum, but just to let you know this wasn't planned, it's complicated why we're all up now, but put it this way, if I had my way I'd much rather be in bed right now."

"You can go back to bed if you want, although you both look pretty comfy where you are," Lucille said, noticing the teen's closeness.

"We are," Troy answered. "And I'm awake now, I couldn't go back to sleep even if I wanted to. Gabi and I were gonna head out for the day though, if that's okay with you and Dad that is."

"I can't see why not, where are you heading?" Lucille asked, bending down to receive a hug from Sophie and then the others who'd just realised she was up.

"Troy's taking me to the beach, where apparently there's a fair right now," Gabriella answered happily.

"Well as long as you give me a rough time of when you'll be back and keep your phones with you, then that's fine with me. In the mean time its feeding time at the zoo, can one of you set these guys up at the table and the other help me in the kitchen? If you can untangle yourselves that is."

"I think we can manage that Mum, so Gabi, kitchen or monster duty?"

"Erm, I'll take the monsters," Gabriella answered, standing from the couch and picking Sophie up to carry through to the dining room and calling the others to follow her.

"Your girl picked good, means you're stuck with me though…lover boy," Lucille teased, as she and Troy walked to the kitchen.

"I…Mum we're…Gabi and I aren't together," Troy tried to cover the truth.

"Troy I'm your Mum, I know that cuddle wasn't just a normal cover you two have, I saw how she was nuzzling her face into your neck just then."

"Mum I…you think it's too soon don't you?"

"No honey, if you two feel it's right, then it's right, I trust you to treat her right Troy, it's what she needs right now. Did this happen last night?"

Troy nodded. "Gabi doesn't want anyone to know though Mum, so please don't tell the others, you can tell Dad if you must, but please don't tell the others. This is all new to her, she's never had a relationship before, it's a learning curve for her, she doesn't need everyone knowing and most likely teasing her for that."

"Troy its okay, I understand, I'll tell your Dad, but only so he knows what's going on but I promise you no one else will know until you two are ready, don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Now go and get breakfast orders will ya, quicker you do that, the quicker you and Gabi are out of here." Troy smiled and gave Lucille a hug, before heading through into the dining room to get the monsters' and Gabriella's breakfast orders, all the while grinning from ear to ear.

**TGTGTGTG**

Smiling Troy took multiple pictures of Gabriella as she came down the giant slide one last time, before walking over to the exit to meet her. He'd opted out of this ride, telling her he wanted some pictures of her by herself,, enjoying herself, her goes on the giant slide were exactly that.

"Did you get good pictures?" Gabriella asked, as she approached Troy after putting her straw mat/bag back onto the pile.

"Yep, amazing ones, you looked like you were having fun," Troy commented, as he handed Gabriella her bag back and interlaced their fingers and started to walk back through the fair.

"Yeah, it was pretty good, are we going to the beach now?"

"Yep, it's only about a five/ten minute walk," Troy answered. "You okay with that?"

"Yeah, are there toilets on the way?"

"Yep, just outside the fair, you okay?"

"Yes Troy, I just need to have a wee, is that okay with you?" Gabriella asked laughing.

"I won't bother asking next time," Troy said with a pout, as they stopped outside the toilets.

"Don't be silly Troy, I like how you care for me so much," Gabriella said, leaning up to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "I won't be long." And with that she disappeared off into the public bathrooms.

True to her word, Gabriella appeared a few minutes later, looking slightly less happy than when she'd gone in, it was then that Troy also noticed her pale appearance.

"You look kinda pale Brie, you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Gabriella answered quietly. "Could we maybe buy a bottle of water somewhere though?"

"Yeah 'course we can lovely, come on," Gabriella took Troy's offered hand and they began their walk, quickly stopping to buy a bottle of water. They walked in a comfortable silence, their arms now wrapped round each other after Gabriella began to lean against Troy and he'd sensed she needed the support.

They arrived at the beach, a little later than anticipated; Gabriella's speed had slowed down as the walk continued. Troy plopped down on a stone free piece of sand and tugged on Gabriella's hand until she sat down in between his legs, her back to his front, him leaning back on his hands, hers wrapped supportively round her stomach.

"So, are you enjoying your first day out as a girlfriend?" Troy asked after a few comfortable minutes of silence.

"Yeah thanks, you've been lovely all day. Do you mind if I lay down for a bit?"

"No of course not, you can use my leg as a pillow if you like," Troy offered and Gabriella curled up where she was, in between his legs. Resting her head on his right leg, she lay curled up in the foetal position, her arms wrapped round her stomach, as Troy's right hand started to run softly through her hair. "You feeling alright lovely?" Troy knew something was up with Gabriella ever since she'd come out from the toilet, but he didn't want to push her into telling him.

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired is all, could we maybe head home after this?"

"Sure, just tell me when you want to go and we will, okay?" Gabriella nodded her head against Troy's leg, before nuzzling her face against it and curling herself up even tighter.

Ten minutes later the couple were leaving the beach and heading back to Troy's car, after a long day out Gabriella was tired and just wanted to curl up again and try to sleep, Troy figured the beach wasn't the best place for this and so once he's settled Gabriella in the passenger seat, he grabbed the blanket he'd brought from the boot and wrapped it round her, knowing the likely hood of her wanting to curl up and stay warm on the way home was considerably high.

**TGTGTGTG**

"Can we play Troy?" Jake stopped bouncing the ball and waited for Troy to answer his sisters.

"Yeah course you can, you two play with Jake while I go and check on Gabi." Troy answered, as he started to make his way inside.

"No it's okay Troy, you play with them, I'll check on Gabi, I need to pee anyway," laughing at Jessie's bluntness Troy let her go in, before turning his attention back to the others.

"In that case, Lillie you play with Jake and Amber you play with me, first team to five wins, okay?" The girls nodded eagerly and went to stand with their captain, while Jake and Troy shared a knowing glance, one saying that this game would be no where as serious as their one-on-one just moments before.

Inside the house, Jessie had done her business in the downstairs bathroom, but had headed upstairs to check on Gabriella who was asleep in Troy's bed after falling asleep on the way back from their day out. When she pushed open Troy's bedroom door, she found Gabriella curled up in bed, seemingly curled up as tightly as was possible.

Jessie walked round to Gabriella's side of the bed to find she was awake, but didn't look to great.

"Hey Gabi, you okay?" Jessie asked, kneeling down next to the bed to be eye level with her.

"Yeah, I will be," Gabriella answered, meeting Jessie's eye and knowing she could tell her. "Cramps." She simply told her, giving Jessie the answer to everything she needed to know.

"Monthly friend?" Jessie checked, not wanting to get the wrong end of the stick, Gabriella nodded and Jessie stood up, knowing what she need to do.

"I'll get you a hot water bottle and Troy, his hugs are good in situations like this, believe me, I've pinched a few," Gabriella smiled briefly.

"I can't tell him something like this Jessie, it's too personal." 

"It's okay, I'll just give him the hot water bottle and tell him you need a hug, he'll figure it out, he's had to put up with me and Jazzy like this for long enough now, you just cuddle down under the covers, he won't be long," with that Jessie left the room in search of her hot water bottle and then her big brother.

Ten minutes later she walked back into the garden and called Troy over. "There's a hot water bottle on the counter and Gabriella's still curled up in bed, she's in need of one of your hugs right now." Jessie waited and watched, as realisation flashed across her brother's eyes.

"Oh," was his reply.

"Exactly," Jessie replied. "She didn't want to tell you 'cause it was too personal for her, but I told her you'd figure it out, so go on, go!" Giving Jessie a quick hug for taking care of Gabriella, Troy went inside, grabbed the hot water bottle then headed up to his room.

Gabriella was still curled up in bed but did turn her head to see who'd come in. She watched, as Troy took off his jeans, leaving him in his t-shirt and boxers, before he lifted the covers and climbed into bed next to her, hot water bottle in hand. "Come here you," he said, opening his arms for Gabriella to roll into. He placed the hot water bottle against her stomach and pulled her against his side, the hot water bottle wedged between them, not that he cared, he'd done this many times with both Jessie and Jazzy. "I understand why you didn't tell me lovely, but I know now so it's okay and because I know, you get me all to yourself until your nasty cramps go away, or at least get better, sound good?"

Gabriella nodded from against Troy's chest. "Thanks Troy, that sounds really good, they really are nasty cramps this time. You've clearly done this with the girls, how do they tell you?"

"They don't, usually they just come and find me with a hot water bottle in hand, looking miserable and I know what's wrong and what they need. Some guys would find it wrong to hug their sisters like that, but if they need a hug then I'll give them one, sometimes they don't wanna go to Mum or Dad even cause they're too busy or Jessie or Jazzy are too embarrassed to tell them, I'd never deny them a hug if I could help it, any of them."

"You're a great brother Troy, not half bad at this whole boyfriend lark either," Gabriella joked.

"Now this is the Gabriella I know."

"No, this is the Gabriella I know, you haven't met her yet, but I think today we took a step closer to it today, so thank you, it's all down to you." Troy smiled and softly kissed Gabriella's forehead, before watching her drift off to sleep, him not far behind.

**TGTGTGTG**

Laughter could be heard from the Bolton's living room that evening, as Amber and Lillie but on an all singing, all dancing show for their older siblings, parents, Gabriella and Jake.

"Dadddyyy," Lillie drew out, as she moved to sit on Jack's lap after he was finished applauding. "Can we go to the park tomorrow?"

"Yeah, please Daddy pleassseee," Amber joined in with the plea from her spot on Lucille's lap.

"I don't see why not," Jack answered. "Your more than welcome to come as well if you want Jake and you can invite the girls if you want Jess." Jack offered.

"Actually Dad, could I maybe invite someone else…a boy?"

"Who?" Troy asked, curious of who Jessie wanted to invite, guessing that was also who she'd been texting all evening.

"Joe, he's in our year, on your team, goes running with Jake in the mornings, lives next door to him."

"I don't see why not," Jack said again. "If he wants to come he can, I'm not sure how we'd work out cars though."

"Well I can drive me and Gabi and maybe the two boys, if they're neighbours I can pick them up at the same time, and then we'll meet you there?"

"Yeah that doesn't sound like a bad idea Troy, is that okay with you girls and you Jake? Will Joe be alright with that?"

"It's fine with me," Jake answered. "And I'm pretty sure it'll be fine with Joe as well, girls?"

"Sounds good to me," Jazzy answered.

"Yeah that's good with me and Joe, thanks Troy."

"No problem."

"I better be heading home," Jake said getting up. "My brother's picking me up about now," right on cue Jake received a text, alerting him to his brother's arrival. Jazzy got up to wave him off and Jessie got up to answer an incoming call from Joe.

"Right then you two, time for bed, if you clean your teeth quickly then get into bed, I'll read you a story." Amber and Lillie quickly kissed Lucille good night before running off upstairs. It wasn't often Jack offered to read them a story, but when he did, they took him up on his offer as quick as a flash.

"And then there was three," Troy said, once Jack had gotten up to read to the girls. Lucille and Gabriella couldn't help but laugh at his statement.

"I told Jack about your relationship," Lucille spoke up. "He said he's happy for you both and hopes that maybe now you'll stop moaning about the others being all lovey dovey all of the time Troy."

"I think I can manage that, once they find out about us, the guys wouldn't let me moan any more anyway." Troy replied, as he tightened the blanket that was tucked round Gabriella, who was curled up snugly on his lap, Jessie's hot water bottle being held against her stomach by Troy.

"So Miss Gabriella, other than the obvious, which wasn't so good, did you have a good day out?" Lucille asked having not really spoken to Gabriella since they arrived back.

"It was great, we went on pretty much all of the rides together, apart from one, the giant slide, Troy made me go on it alone so he could stand at the bottom and take pictures."

"You mean there are pictures and I haven't seen them?" Lucille asked making Gabriella giggle and Troy put her onto the couch so he could run upstairs and get his camera. He was back just as quickly as he'd left, giving Lucille the camera as he passed her to pick Gabriella up, sit down and then get her comfortable on his lap again. Lucille looked through the pictures on Troy's camera and laughed at the fun the couple seemed to of had, especially Gabriella on the giant slide.

"There's some really good pictures here guys," Lucille said, as she handed Troy his camera back. "You should make an album of your first official outing as a couple with them."

"Yeah, I'll probably make one on my laptop Mum," Troy replied, as his hands interlocked with Gabriella's and rested on the hot water bottle, which was starting to go cold. "Do you want me to fill this up again lovely or do you just want to go to bed?" Troy was conscious of how lousy Gabriella was feeling and how tiring their day at the park tomorrow would make her.

"Bed please," Gabriella requested and Troy didn't hesitate to oblige, standing up with her in his arms bridal style, he bid his Mum goodnight before carrying Gabriella up to bed.

Ten minutes later the pair were cuddled down in bed, Gabriella's head resting on Troy's chest and their legs intertwined, making it hard to tell one from the other. "Okay lovely lady, if you need anything, or you wake up in the night, for what ever reason, you wake me up as well and I'll get it for you or help you out, you're not very steady on your feet right now, I don't want you walking about by yourself, especially at night, alright?"

"I would say I don't want to wake you up, but I can tell you're not going to back down and I don't have the energy to argue with you, so okay." Troy chuckled at her answer before pulling her closer and planting a few gentle soft kisses into her hair.

He knew that for the most part Gabriella had really enjoyed her day out at the fair and beach and to be truthful, so had he. He wasn't going to moan about the others being together anymore because he was with Gabriella now and although it was still early days, Troy had this feeling, a feeling that meant he couldn't wipe his ear to ear grin from his face. He was slowly, _but surely_, falling for Gabriella Montez.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, chapter ten, I hope you liked it!**

**I'm getting a bit low on reviews compared to the start of the story, so it would be great if we could get the up again, not that those I do get aren't amazing, so thank you!**

**Next chapter: Our wildcat captain turns 18!**

**As always:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	11. In Return

**Here's the next chapter for you guys, I hope you like it!**

In Return

She knew it was soon, she'd heard them all talking about it at some point, but she didn't know exactly when it was. So now, after they'd finished their homework and Troy had quickly jumped in the shower, she headed downstairs where she knew Jack and Lucille were cuddled up watching a movie.

It seemed they must have heard her coming down the stairs because they were both looking in the direction of the doorway when she arrived there.

"Hey Gabi," Lucille greeted. "You okay sweetie?"

"Yeah erm…its Troy's birthday soon, right?" She asked her arms crossed over her chest self consciously.

"Yeah it's on Saturday, why?" Jack asked, as he paused the movie so he and Lucille could focus on Gabriella.

"Have you guys got anything planned for him?" She asked now leaning against the doorframe.

"Not really honey, why?" Lucile knew Gabriella was getting to something here and she was pretty sure she knew what it was.

"Could I maybe plan something for him? A get together with the gang maybe? Unless you want it to be a family thing?"

"You can definitely plan something for him," Jack answered. "We'll want to see him at some point though; the others wouldn't forgive you if you took him away all day." Gabriella giggled at how close the Bolton children all were, considering the big age gaps.

"How about," Lucille started. "We all get to see Troy here in the morning, have a birthday lunch or something, so the others can spend time with him and give him their presents and stuff and then you can have him for the late afternoon into evening, sound good?"

"Yeah I think I could go with that, thanks," Gabriella answer softly. "I'll check with the gang first, but can you help me with some of the organising when I have Lucille?"

"'Course I can honey, you speak to the others, then we'll sit down and sort things out and we'll be away, just don't leave it too late, ask them tomorrow if you can. It's Wednesday tomorrow, if you want to book somewhere you'll need to do it by Thursday evening, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll try and talk to them tomorrow, thanks guys, night," Gabriella said, as she turned to head back up to Troy's room.

"Night sweetie," She heard, as a double reply, as she reached the stairs.

She didn't knock when she reached the bedroom, she and Troy had come to the agreement that when they had showered they'd get dressed in the locked bathroom to save any embarrassing incidents, seems tonight Troy had forgotten this.

Gabriella pushed open the bedroom door and was about to walk in, when she looked up and saw Troy stood there with just his towel round his waist. At loss of what else to so, she quickly apologised and left, shutting the door behind her quickly and standing there in utter shock, until she turned and walked into the spare room, which was still filled with her Grandparents belongings. She walked over to the wall which was opposite the door and sat down under the window, leaning against the wall and pulling her legs to her chest in an attempt to become as small as possible, scared that Troy would split up with her now because she'd seen him in that state of undress.

It wasn't long 'til she heard movement and knew that Troy was coming to find her, so she leaned forwards and rested her forehead on her knees, she didn't want to look at Troy, she didn't want to know what was coming next.

"There you are, Brie I'm sorry, that was all completely my fault. I forgot to take a change of clothes into the bathroom with me and so I had to come out and get them. When I saw you weren't in there I was just going to grab my clothes and then go back into the bathroom, in case you came back before I changed, but I didn't even get the chance to do that." Troy walked over and knelt down in front of Gabriella, placing his hands on her shoulders and gently rubbing his thumbs back and forth, he knew the situation had shaken Gabriella by the way she was sat and the fact she wouldn't look or even acknowledge him. "Babe I'm so sorry, none of that was your fault in the slightest, sweetheart please look at me."

Gabriella lifted her head to reveal her eyes swimming with tears, making Troy feel even worse than before. "Please don't break up with me," she pleaded, as the tears slowly spilled over.

"Break up with you? My lovely girl, why would I do that?" Troy asked moving his hands to cup Gabriella's face and wipe away her tears.

"Because I…I saw you like that."

"Yeah and I told you that, that was completely _my_ fault, so if anyone should be breaking up with anyone, you should be breaking up with me for breaking our rule and I doubt you'll do that, will you?"

Gabriella shook her head and wiped away her remaining tears with the sleeve of Troy's hoodie. "I'd miss your cuddles too much," Troy smiled knowing everything was okay between then again.

"Answer me this though," Troy said sitting down cross legged in front of Gabriella before he lost his balance and fell over. "Are you comfortable with me sleeping like this, in my t-shirt and boxers, or would you rather I put some pyjama bottoms on or even some basketball shorts?"

Gabriella shook her head again, "No I'm fine with you like this, thanks for checking though."

"Okay, now that we have everything sorted, you wanna go and cuddle down and watch that 'Great Gatsby' DVD I ordered which came this morning? I need you there to explain to me who they all are," Gabriella giggled and nodded, letting Troy get up and then taking his offered hand so they could settle in for their daily snuggle.

**TGTGTGTG**

"What's going on Gabi?" Ryan asked the next day at school during lunch, while the gang, minus Troy and Chad, were sat round their normal table.

"I wanted to ask you all something, but I can't do that with Troy here so I asked Chad to delay their arrival for a bit so I can talk to you all and then Taylor can relay it all to him later." The others all nodded their understanding allowing Gabriella to carry on. "Okay, so I'm assuming you all know it's Troy's birthday on Saturday and I was just wondering if you'd all be up for getting together that evening, to celebrate together?"

"Sounds like good fun to me," Sharpay answered with agreeing nods from the others. "You got any ideas yet Gabs?"

"Well the Bolton's want him in the morning and we're gonna have a birthday lunch with cake so the others can give him their presents and stuff, but Jack and Lucille said we could have him in the evening, so I was thinking maybe we could all put some money in and go to that Italian restaurant he likes at the retail park?"

"Sounds good to me," came the unanimous reply.

"I'll ask Lucille to book it for me tonight and then email all of the details to you; it'll be too long to text. I'm hoping that my new license will be here by then and then I'll be able to drive him there without telling him where we're going first."

"I didn't know you could drive Gabi," Kelsi said swatting Ryan's hand away from her salad. "You've got your own," she told him, making Ryan pout and the others laugh.

"Yeah I can drive, I got my license as soon as I could and then learnt to drive and passed my test, but my Grandparents wouldn't let me drive their car and we couldn't afford to buy me my own, but it was there in case of emergencies, in case Grandpa couldn't drive at anytime and we needed to be somewhere urgently."

"Fair enough," Zeke answered. "How come you're organising this for him though Gabs? Didn't Jack and Lucille want to do anything?"

"I asked them, but they said as long as they all get to see him in the morning its fine and I kinda just wanted to do something for him in return for everything he's done and is still doing for me since I got here."

"Well it all sounds like a great idea and we'll all be there Gabs, it sounds like great fun," Taylor said, as Troy and Chad entered the canteen. "The boys are here" she added making everyone turn to greet them, as they arrived and Gabriella get up to give a grumpy looking Troy a hug.

"What's up?" She question him, pulling back from the bug, but still staying in the embrace. Despite the fact the pair had been dating for three weeks on Friday the only people that knew were their parents and Jessie and Jazzy, who'd had enough of Troy's smugness and so tickled the truth out of him, he told them but swore them to secrecy after. The gang had noticed the pair's closeness, but hadn't thought anything of it, as far as they were concerned hugging and holding hands was normal for the couple, they just hadn't noticed the stolen glances and soft whispers that happened between the pair constantly as well. So the fact that they were stood in a seemingly romantic embrace in the middle of the canteen, didn't bother the gang, who went about their lunch time business while our secret couple continued to enjoy the very public embrace.

"We have to baby sit tonight…well not exactly baby sit 'cause Jessie and Jazzy will be there as well, but we're in charge, we need to cook dinner and everything, Mum and Dad have got to go to some dinner thing that he's involved with, Dad just told me."

"Why's that a bad thing? You love looking after the little ones," Gabriella replied running her hands up and down Troy's upper arms comfortingly.

"Cause I wanted to do my homework, have my tea and then spend some time with you, now I'll have to cook tea, put that lot to bed and then do my homework, which I can't do by the way and by the time I've done all that we'll probably go to bed and you'll fall asleep on me again."

Gabriella laughed and leant her forehead against Troy's chest momentarily. "I'm sorry, I've just been really tired recently, all of those sleepless nights before are catching up in me I guess. But we'll work it out Troy; I'll help you with your homework and with everything tonight, you have a free next right?" Troy nodded slowly. "Okay then we'll go and do some homework then, I'm free as well, we'll get our work, hide away in the back of the library and I'll help you while I'm doing mine as well, it'll be fine Troy, yeah?"

"Yeah I guess."

"Okay, that'll do for now, now lets get you some lunch and we'll relax for a bit before we work, alright?" Troy nodded and allowed Gabriella to pull him over to the lunch line, ignoring the rather amusing looks their friends were sending his way.

**TGTGTGTG**

It was Friday evening, a while after dinner, when Jack and Lucille were getting the younger four ready for bed and Jazzy and Jessie had gone on a double date with Jake and Joe, when Troy escaped outside to shoot his last few hoops as a seventeen year old. He hadn't been out there long when he heard the back door open and looked up to see Gabriella walking towards him.

"Hey lovely, you okay?" He asked stopping his shooting to concentrate on her.

"Come get ice cream with me?" She asked and it was only then that Troy noticed she had her bag and his car keys with her. "I'm paying." She told him. "But I'm also driving as well."

Troy dropped the ball and walked the rest of the distance between him and Gabriella, he didn't even know her license had arrived. "I didn't even know your license had arrived, when did it get here babe?"

"Yesterday," Gabriella answered honestly. "I didn't tell you cause I didn't even open the envelope until just now, but I want to take you somewhere tomorrow and I haven't driven since way before the accident…and I know I've been in a car loads of times since then but I haven't been in control of one, please come and get ice cream with me?"

"Do Mum and Dad know where we're going?" Troy asked, gently cupping Gabriella's face in his hands, she only nodded in response. "Okay then, you go get in the car and get yourself comfortable with stuff while I change my top and I'll be out in a few, alright?" Gabriella nodded and leaned up to give him a quick peck on the lips before she left through the garden gate, happy that Troy had agreed to this outing.

Half an hour later, as the pair sat happily eating their chocolate chip ice creams; Troy asked the question he'd wanted the answer to all evening. "Where we going tomorrow then? And how come you have to drive? Why can't you just tell me where we're going and I drive?"

"It's a surprise, so I can't tell you where we're going and because of this I need to drive because otherwise you'll figure out where we're going before we get there and that would just spoil the whole thing."

"Fine, but I'm driving home afterwards, it is my car after all."

"Yeah I know it is, but Lucille said I could drive it so if you've got a problem with that, take it up with her. Now if you're done I'm ready to go, I'm tired and I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day," Troy nodded and wiped his mouth on a napkin before standing up and offering his hand to Gabriella to lead her out to his car and home to get into bed for the last time as a seventeen year old.

**TGTGTGTG**

He was having an absolutely amazing time and that was her main priority, but she couldn't stay in there any longer, she needed to escape, just for a bit. So, she'd silently slipped out and was now stood staring out of the kitchen window, in a complete daydream, causing her not to notice Jack entering the room.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked, making Gabriella turn round in surprise, she smiled softly at him and went back to staring out of the window causing Jack to walk over and join her. "Troy noticed you'd gone and wants you to come and join in with the pictures, he wanted to come and get you himself, but the others wouldn't let him leave, so I'm here instead. You probably don't even want to talk to me and I understand Gabi, you don't need to explain yourself honey, so the best I can offer you is to give you one of my bear hugs, dry your tears and then take you back to the party, sound good?" Gabriella nodded and walked into Jack's open arms, she hadn't even realised she was crying until he'd mentioned it, but she didn't want to ruin Troy's day, so she quickly dried her tears and allowed Jack to take her back through to the lounge.

She immediately locked eyes with Troy, who straight away got up from the couch, moving the little ones off of him as he did, to give her a hug. He took her into his arms and immediately Gabriella felt safe, she was able to calm herself down and join in with the rest of the photos which were being taken.

"Okay guys, cake time, come sit in the dining room," Lucille announced after a few more photos and the children all filed through into the dining room, Troy hanging back slightly, making Gabriella wait as well.

"You okay baby girl? I know you've been crying," Troy spoke to Gabriella softly, as he pulled her into another breath taking hug.

"I am now, it's just the whole family being in one place enjoying themselves thing again, I'll be fine," She said from against Troy's chest. "Just don't wander off to far, I think I might need a few more of these hugs before the end of the day."

"I'm not going anywhere lovely, you have my word on that" Troy replied, as he planted a few soft kisses into Gabriella's hair, before leading her through to the dining room, to join the people she was starting to consider family.

**TGTGTGTG**

"The retail park? Brie why are at the retail park?"

"Because this is where your surprise is," Gabriella answered simply, as she parked the car and got out, waiting for Troy to do the same before locking the car and throwing him the keys.

"But what is my surprise?" Troy whined, bored of not knowing now.

"Look where you are Troy," Gabriella told him blankly, causing him to look at the building in front of him.

"The Italian, this is my surprise?" Gabriella nodded. "I love it here, but it's so expensive, are you sure about this?"

"Yes Troy, now come on, we've got reservations," Gabriella said, taking Troy's hand and leading him into the restaurant. They were greeted by the host for the night and after Gabriella telling them her name they were directed to a secluded part of the restaurant and told their waiter would be with them shortly. Gabriella pulled Troy over to their table, around a corner from the rest of the restaurant and simply waited for his reaction.

"SURPRISE!" There, at a big table decorated with balloons and streamers, were the gang, all of them ready to celebrate their captain's eighteenth birthday.

"Wait, why are they all here? They knew," Troy concluded walking over to them. "You all knew and none of you told me, thanks Chad, I thought I could rely on you."

"Dude, Gabi swore us to secrecy and I'm glad she did, your face was hilarious just then, I'm so glad Kelsi has her camera with her, please tell me you got that face Kels?"

"Of course," Kelsi replied, passing the camera around so everyone could see Troy's shocked look.

"You planned all this?" Troy asked, as he turned round to look at Gabriella.

"Yeah, that okay with you?" She asked, as she walked over and they wrapped their arms round the others waist, not caring about the reaction they'd receive from the others.

"Of course it is, but why? What have I done to deserve this? I'd of been quite happy at home with a take away."

"What haven't you done? Troy ever since I arrived at yours, you've been nothing but amazing and helpful and caring towards me, and I couldn't of asked for anything more. And recently, the whole thing with our feelings and now this, _us,_ you've been more than amazing through it all, you still are, you've helped me understand so much and I doubt you'll be stopping anytime soon, so I just wanted to give you something in return, happy birthday babe," and with that said and done, the pair leaned in and shared their most amazing, passion filled kiss yet, the fact that it was in front of their friends didn't seem to bother them, not even when they were pulled out of their bubble by claps and cheers.

"Okay, you two better explain what's going on here or you ain't getting your presents Bolton," Sharpay threatened causing everyone to laugh and Troy and Gabriella to break away from each other in order to sit down in the middle of their friends and once they'd explained, enjoy an amazingly fantastic evening.

**TGTGTGTG**

When they arrived home, Troy headed up to his room while Gabriella headed through to the lounge to talk to Jack and Lucille quickly, but Troy didn't know she had a hidden motive for doing this.

He walked into his room to find a big colourful piece of card on his bed and once he got closer, he was able to tell that it was a collage, a collage of all the different photos he and Gabriella had taken together since becoming a couple three weeks ago today.

The pictures were grouped together as to when they'd been taken and they were all stuck down neatly, glitter around the outside of each one and most importantly, 'Happy Birthday Troy' was written beautifully in the middle. Troy smiled knowing this was his presents from Gabriella and quickly changed into his night ware before settling into bed with his present in hand to study each and every picture and laugh over the memory that came with each one.

Gabriella had silently come in half way through Troy's 'present studying' and gone straight to the bathroom to change, not wanting to hear Troy's response to her not getting him a proper present.

"It's beautiful Brie, I love it, thank you," Gabriella slid into next to Troy and didn't even have the chance to get settled before Troy had pulled her into his arms to pull out their second breath taking kiss of the evening and relationship.

"I didn't know what to get you," Gabriella told him; as he put his present safely on the big chest at the bottom of his bed and laid back down to hold her in his arms. "You nearly didn't even get that, but Lucille said that you would probably prefer something personal than shop brought and that's where I got the idea for that, I borrowed some of Lillie and Amber's art stuff and simply got creative, I'm glad you liked it, I don't know what I would've done otherwise."

"Well I absolutely love it, so that doesn't even matter now," Troy assured her, as he cuddled her closer and pressed soft kisses into her hair. "As much as I don't want to ruin this moment, Mum mentioned to me earlier about the spare room and how you need to sort out your Grandparents stuff. I know you haven't forgotten about it babe and she knows that as well, but it does need to be sorted out soon."

"Will you help me?" Gabriella asked her voice quiet and muffled against Troy's chest.

"Of course I will beautiful, you don't even need to ask, you pick a day and we'll get sorting, you and me all day if it comes to it."

"I'm not beautiful Troy."

"Oh honey, you are so unbelievably beautiful and don't you dare let anyone else tell you other wise, you hear me?" Gabriella nodded and cuddled herself closer to Troy, enjoying more than anything the feeling of being in his arms.

"Can we sort it out tomorrow? Or is that too soon after your birthday? Do you wanna celebrate more tomorrow?"

"Brie sweetheart, tomorrow is fine, we'll sort it all out tomorrow, just calm down please lovely, it's all going to be okay, I promise you," he began slowly rubbing his hand up and down her back, sensing her tense up beside him.

"Thank you Troy, so much, for everything, I wanted to give you tonight in return for everything you've been doing for me, but you keep doing more and I don't think I can ever do enough to return all that."

"Sweetheart you don't have to give me anything in return, all I want from you is for you to return to the old you, the person you used to be before all this crazy stuff came into your life, you hear me?" Gabriella nodded and cuddled herself even more closer to Troy, loving the way he made her feel and loving that fact that she was slowly, but surely falling for Troy Bolton.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys chapter eleven for ya, hope you liked it!**

**Last chapter I mentioned the reviews being low and you didn't disappoint, they went up again, so thank you, if we could keep it that way, it would be amazing! **

**PLESE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	12. Memories and I Can't

**I cannot believe the amount of reviews I've been getting for each chapter and the story as a whole, thank you so so much guys! If we could keep it**** up, then that would be **_**amazing!**_

**And welcome to those of you who are new to the story, it means a lot to me that you've joined us so far in! And of course those of ****you, who have been there all along, thank you as well!**

**Charli – this one's for you!**** HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIRL! **

Memories and I Can't

The house was quiet, eerily quiet and as much as Troy wanted to make advantage of this and cuddled up with Gabriella in the lounge to watch a movie and steal a few kisses here and there, he knew he couldn't. He knew that while Gabriella was in the right frame of mind, they needed to sort out her Grandparents belongings and them being the only ones in the house made it a whole lot easy if Gabriella's emotions became too much for her.

Troy had spoken to Lucille that morning, before they all left to visit Jack's parents, and she had told him the easiest thing to do was to sort the items into three piles; items Gabriella didn't want to keep but was worth giving to charity, items Gabriella didn't want to keep but wasn't worth keeping, basically rubbish and finally the items that Gabriella wanted to keep, the items that meant the most to her and she couldn't bare to part with.

Which was why now, Troy was making his way up to the spare room with boxes and bin bags, ready to help Gabriella do something he knew she wasn't looking forward to.

"Okay," Troy said, as he entered the spare room where Gabriella was already waiting. "We've got everything we need, so where do we start?"

"I don't know," Gabriella answered honestly, tears already in her eyes threatening to fall. Troy didn't respond to Gabriella's answer, but simply walked over to Gabriella and gathered her into his arms, resting his chin on top of her head, as she silently cried against his chest.

"Listen to me beautiful," Troy said a few minutes later, as he pulled out of their embrace and cupped Gabriella's face in his hands. "We are going to work through this together; we aren't going to do anything you don't want to in the slightest. If it gets too much you tell me and we'll stop, we'll leave the room, have a break and then come back when you're ready, we don't have to do this all in the same day, as long as we make a start we'll be well away. Now you tell me, and don't say I don't mind, this is your decision, how do you want to do this? Do you want us to work together and sort through each box at the same time? Or would you rather we work separately and sort through different boxes?"

"Together," Gabriella answered softly, as she let Troy wipe away her tears with the pads of his thumbs.

"Together it is then lovely, do you need to calm down first or are you ready to start?"

"I'm ready, lets start over here," Gabriella answered, walking over to a pile of boxes in the near corner and sitting down in front of them. "It's just got clothes in it and I'm pretty sure most of them can just go to charity."

"Well then, my lovely lady, lets get sorting," Troy responded grabbing a couple of bin bags and sitting down on the floor next to Gabriella. His main priority today was her and he would do absolutely anything to make today that slight bit easier for her.

**TGTGTGTG**

"What you got there my lovely beautiful Gabsy?" Troy asked, as he walked back into the living room after quickly doing their washing up from lunch.

"Gabsy?" Gabriella giggled at Troy's knew name for her.

"Yeah like 'Gatsby' but Gabsy and your much more better-er than him anyway," Troy replied, as he plopped down onto the couch next to her.

"Better-er? Seriously Troy and you making up new words today or something?"

Troy shrugged. "Don't laugh at me missy, it's not very nice. Now answer me, what you got there?" Troy asked again, gesturing to the big photo album type book on Gabriella's lap.

"This is a photo album, it contains pretty much every photo taken of me, give or take a few," Gabriella answered fingering the opening of the album.

"You mean I get to see baby photos of my lovely Gabsy?" Troy asked gently wrapping his arm around Gabriella, giving her the support he knew she'd need.

Gabriella nodded. "There are others as well though, ones that I _know_ will make me cry Troy."

"It's okay to cry Brie, I know you don't like it and don't want to, but it's perfectly okay to cry, especially because I think these photos will bring back some amazing memories for you. So what do you think? Show me your amazing family?" Gabriella nodded and bit her lip, before taking a deep breath and opening the book that contained memories of her entire life.

Half an hour later the couple were still looking through the pictures and although tears had been shed, they'd been mainly happy ones over the memories that came to Gabriella when she saw them. The most recent picture had Gabriella in a fit of giggles that she still hadn't quite recovered from.

"Will you tell me what's so funny before you wee yourself please?" Troy asked, laughing himself at how happy Gabriella was. Unforetunately for Troy, his comment about Gabriella weeing herself only made her giggles worse and it was a good five minutes later, before she was able to compose herself and tell him why she was in such a state in the first place.

"You see this picture here?" Gabriella started, pointing to a picture of her Dad with an apron on, an apron that appeared to be slightly burnt at the bottom. "This one was taken just before he was diagnosed, I think, so I was about four. I don't really remember it, but I remember Mum telling me about it when I was upset and missing him. We were having a barbeque because the weather was _really_ nice and of course Dad volunteered to be the chef, so Mum left him to do that while she came and played catch with me. Everything was going really well and the food smelt really great, until dad started shouting and we turned round to find that he'd some how managed to catch his apron alight." Gabriella laughed at again at the memory, but also let some tears fall. "Mum rushed over to help him, they both kind of just stood there flapping at the apron, so me being four did the most obvious thing at the time, I ran over to the garden tap, turned it on, picked up the hose and aim it at Dad. Of course I got Mum wet in the process as well, but I put the flames out and they both laughed once they realised I'd done that. Once we'd all gotten over our laughter, Mum went and got the camera to take a picture of Dad, as proof that he should never be left alone with a barbeque ever again, he never even got the chance to go near a barbeque again anyway."

"My own little fire fighter," Troy whispered, as he pulled Gabriella closer and let her cry against him, as she remember one of the best memories of her Dad before the cancer took over his life.

Gabriella stayed cuddled against Troy as they looked at the rest of the photos, both laughter and tears playing a big in her remembering some of the best memories of her life so far, some that living with the Bolton's, she knew would soon be added to.

**TGTGTGTG**

The room was the cleanest it had been in a long time, so much so that it had now become Sam and Sophie's favourite place to be; an empty room to two toddlers was great fun, they ran about and laughed and 'talked' with each other, as Gabriella sat in the middle of the room, picking up Sophie when her feet disagreed with her choice of direction.

"There you are," Lucille said, as she entered the room and took and sat down next to Gabriella. "I was wondering where you'd all gotten to, luckily or unluckily for you, depending on how you view, Troy knew where you were. You two did a great job in here today; this room has never been this clean, or empty for that matter, not since Jack or I moved in that is."

Gabriella smiled softly. "Yeah we did a pretty good job between the two of us, I don't think I'd of been able to do it without him though Lucille, he was amazing through it all. Right from the word go he made it clear that nothing happened unless I didn't want it to, I cried a lot today, but they weren't all said tears, most of them were happy ones, but that's mostly because Troy was there to help me and tell me that tears are okay, even if they are unwanted sometimes."

"That's 'cause he cares about you a lot Gabi. You've come so far since you've been here sweetheart and yeah, we all know your not there yet, it's going to take a heck of a long time for you to get there, but you're well on the way honey and that's what matters. Alright you two, sorry to break up the party, but it's for your bath, so come on, let's go," Lucille said, as she got up and held her hands out to Sam and Sophie, who happily took hold and waited patiently for Lucille to finish talking to Gabriella. "The others are outside if you want to go and join them, I think basketball is probably involved if both Troy and Jack are out there," Gabriella smiled and nodded her understanding, as she waved goodbye to Sam and Sophie who had now worn themselves after running about so much.

Arriving outside Gabriella found that basketball was indeed involved, as she found Jazzy and Jessie in a serious game of two on two with Jake and Joe, while Troy and Jack were playing piggy in the middle with Amber and Lillie.

"Gabi!" Amber shouted, as she ran over to her and gave her a hug. "Me and Lillie are winning 'cause Troy and Daddy are in the middle now."

"Well done, you've done really well, do you think you can get it over their heads so they stay in the middle?" Gabriella asked, as Amber pulled her over to the others.

"Yeah 'cause you're gonna help us," Amber answered simply, walking back to her end of he line.

"Hey that's not fair," Troy complained. "They've got an extra player."

"Troy they're nine, they weren't going to get it over our heads without help or cheating, let Gabi help them," Jack told Troy who simply pouted before smirking.

"Okay, but I'm defending Gabi, it'll be way more fun, game on girls!" Amber and Lillie laughed at Troy, before starting the game and beating Jack and Troy easily.

**TGTGTGTG**

Sweet sixteen, a birthday all teenage girls look forward too and Jessie and Jazzy are no different. Turning sixteen usually involves a big party with friends that lasts well into the night, not for our Bolton girls. No, they were quite happy with a night in with family and friends and the good old take away pizza. Jack and Lucille were more than happy to agree to this, if it's what the girls wanted, then it's what the girls got.

So, on Saturday the 25th of October, a week after Troy had turned eighteen, Jessica and Jasmine Bolton officially turned sixteen, and at exactly four o'clock the doorbell rang signalling the arrival of four of the girls' guests, Jenna, Jemma, Jake and Joe.

That morning Troy had sat down and explained to Gabriella, as closely as he could, exactly what would be happening at the party, he knew she was anxious about the amount of people who would be at her usual safe heaven and he wanted to give her as much of a heads up as he could. Gabriella had been excited about the girls turning sixteen and they're party, but had still been thankful for Troy giving her the information he had.

It was now almost six o'clock, the time Jack's parents, Harold and Helena were due to arrive. Gabriella had taken it upon herself to entertain the younger two Bolton's, while Amber and Lillie were happy to play with the teenagers and dance to the music playing in the background, Sophie and Sam weren't so sure and so Gabriella had sat herself on the floor in the children's end of the lounge to entertain them with their own toys, while still being part of the party.

"Grandma and Grandpa are here," Troy announced, as he entered the room and took a seat on the floor in front of the fire place in the middle of the room. He was sat in such a place that he was able to join in with the party conversation, but still be near to Gabriella if she needed him.

Gabriella had heard a lot about Harold and Helena, but as of yet hadn't met them and to say she was nervous would be a slight understatement. The last set of Grandparents she'd had any contact with was her own and they were no longer with us. She hadn't told anyone about her fears over meeting the elderly couple, they were there family, she knew they were nice people, but that still didn't make her any less nervous and shaky.

"Happy birthday girls!" A voice, Gabriella assumed to be Helena could be heard just outside the room and both Jessie and Jazzy got up to greet her. It was a few minutes later when they girls re-entered the room with Helena and Harold and this was when Gabriella's world came to a stop.

She'd thought she could do this, she'd thought she'd be able to handle this, but she couldn't, not anymore, she just couldn't. Helena and Harold looked exactly like her Grandparents, from certain angles they could have been passed off as twins. Everything from their smell to the way they acted reminded Gabriella of her Grandma and Grandpa and she just couldn't take it.

She lifted Sophie off of her lap, put her down on the floor and then swiftly left the room. She ignored everyone's calls to her and didn't even acknowledge Jack and Lucille as she passed them on her way through the kitchen; she just needed to get out. She ran out into the garden and over to the tree which housed Troy's tree house and before she even knew what she was doing she started punching the tree.

She wasn't in any way a violent person, but today her mind seemed to take over her body and all it was telling her to do was punch. She kept punching and punching, as hard as she could, immediately scrapping her knuckles and almost straightaway drawing blood. Sobs wracked her body as she continued to punch, pain emanating from her hands and up her arms, but nothing mattered right now, not even intense pain. She vaguely heard voices behind her, but that was the last thing she remembered, as she started to go dizzy and soon Gabriella's world turned to black.

**TGTGTGTG**

His hand gently ran through her hair, as he waited for her to come round. He knew as soon as she'd left the room that she had broken, but he hadn't expected to walk into the back garden just in time to see her collapse.

He'd carried her inside where Lucille had ushered him down to the basement, the place Gabriella felt the safest, no matter what the circumstance. He'd laid her down on the couch and rested her hands on her stomach to stop her getting them dirty and infected and then settled on the floor next to the couch, his hand running through her hair as he waited, anxiously, for her to come round.

Slowly her eyes started to flutter open and she turned her head to look at him, her eyes weren't even open all the way, but he could still see the pain and upset that was in them.

"T-Troy?"

"Yeah it's me beautiful, you're okay lovely, just relax," Troy said, as he moved one of his hands to hold both of hers, careful of the nasty cuts she'd gained.

"I-I can't," Gabriella stuttered out. "I c-can't Troy, I-I can't," She repeated again, as she tried to sit up and fight against Troy, but he wasn't having any of it. He got up from the floor and gently held Gabriella in a sitting position as he settled onto the couch himself and then pulled her onto his lap. He pulled her against him and encouraged her to rest her head against his right shoulder, as her body became limp and the sobs that were wracking through her body in the garden once again appeared. Troy held her tightly and rocked them both from side to side, knowing that she needed to get it all out of her system before they could even think about tending to her hands.

Half an hour later, the basement door opened and Lucille appeared with a tray with first aid supplies on. She walked over to the teens and set the tray down on the coffee table, before taking a seat next to it, facing the young pair and gently rubbing Gabriella's arm in comfort. Gabriella flinched at the new contact and repeated the only words she'd spoken since she'd come round.

"I-I can't, I c-can't Troy, I-I can't," and with that said, she buried her face into the crook of his neck and hugged herself closer to him.

"Gabi honey, I know you just want to be with Troy right now and I understand that, but I need to tend to your hands before they get infected, is that okay with you?" Gabriella didn't respond straight away, but instead looked to Troy for confirmation.

"It's okay lovely; Mum's not going to hurt you, she just wants to make your hands better, alright?" Gabriella nodded her understanding and settled herself back against Troy, allowing Lucille to start work on her hands.

"There all done, just be careful with them honey, they'll be sore for a few days," Lucille said twenty minutes later, as she finished tidying up Gabriella's hands and had fortunately found that they were no more than grazes and that no hospital treatment was needed. "Now," Lucille said, as she moved to sit next to the young pair on the couch, so that she was next to Troy, but facing Gabriella, who was still sat sideways on Troy's lap. "Tell me what you can't do honey and I'll see if I can help."

Gabriella shrugged. "I guess I can't do life anymore," she answered, as she took a deep breath to stop the tears from coming back, she'd calmed down considerably while Lucille was sorting out her hands and she wanted things to stay that way. "I think maybe I need to talk to someone, not that you guys haven't helped me," she said turning to look Troy in the eye, who simply gave her an encouraging smile. "Because you have, but I think I need to speak to a professional, a counsellor maybe?"

"If that's what you think you need sweetheart them I'm sure we can sort that out. There's a counsellor at school I'm sure Jack could set you up an appointment with, or would you feel uncomfortable with the others knowing?"

"No I don't mind the others knowing, I know it won't change anything with the way they treat me and talking with the school counsellor will be easier than any other. Do you think Troy would be able to come to the meetings as well?"

"I don't see why not honey, I'll talk to Jack and then he can talk to the necessary people on Monday, but for now you just stay down here with Troy and relax, you collapsed this afternoon so you need to take things easy, alright?" Gabriella nodded and leaned over to give Lucille a hug of thanks, before she picked up her used medical supplies and left the young couple to it.

"Are you happy with being down here honey? I can take you upstairs if you'd rather snuggle down in bed," Troy offered, concerned for Gabriella's health right now.

"I wanna stay here," Gabriella answered, as she moved so that she was laying down with her head resting in Troy's lap, her face nestled into his stomach.

"Okay then, you rest there my lovely, get some sleep even, and I will be here when you wake up, I promise." Gabriella mumbled a reply and wrapped her arms the best she could around Troy's torso, as his held her close, pulling a blanket down from the back of the couch to lay over her.

They spent the rest of the day that way, only breaking from their bubble so Gabriella could use the bathroom and give her presents for the girls to Troy to pass on, she couldn't face going back into the lounge, not today, it was just too embarrassing.

Now though they were cuddled back on the couch in the basement, with their share of the pizza, watching some chick flick film Troy had let Gabriella put on to cheer her up. So far it had worked and he was more than happy to sit through many more 'girly' films if it meant Gabriella was happy.

"You know I'm here right Brie? Even when you are having meetings with the counsellor, I'm still here for you, if it's personal stuff, stuff they don't need to know then I'm here okay, I'll always be here."

"I know you are Troy, I never once doubted that babe, I've come so far with your help these past few weeks, but I need to speak with the counsellor to help me get the rest of the way there, back to the old me, you understand that don't you?"

"Of course I do lovely, always have done, always will do," Troy replied, as he wrapped his arms around Gabriella and pulled her close, the feeling of being in the others arms, all that they both needed right now, the rest would come in it's own time, slowly but surely.

**TGTGTGTG**

**There's chapter twelve for you guys, hope you liked it!**

**Most of you will know that if you're signed into fanfiction then I will send you a review reply, but at the minute review reply's don't seem to be working, so I thought I'd warn you all that I'm not ignoring you, I just can't reply, I still love your reply's all the same :) **

**There will be a bit of a time jump in the next chapter because after that, there's only one more left, but it will be Christmas and that's **_**always**_** exciting! **

**As always:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	13. It's Christmas!

**I cannot believe how many reviews this story has, thank you all SO much!**

**I have a poll on my profile on which story you guys want to read next, so please head over there and vote. But first I'd advise you to read each of the summaries before you make your decision, and you can vote twice so you don't have to deliberate between your favourite two! I WILL be going by the results, so please go vote!**

**Anyway this is the one before the last, so enjoy while it's still here :P**

It's Christmas!

"Looking good Montez," Troy said, as he walked up to Gabriella from behind and wrapped his arms round her waist, resting his chin on her right shoulder, after moving her hair to the other.

"Thanks," Gabriella replied turning and placing a kiss on his jaw line.

"Well I was actually talking about the cake, but you know..." Troy braced himself, as Gabriella turned round and gently slapped his chest for being cheeky.

"Thanks for that babe; the cake _does_ look alright though, doesn't it?" She asked, biting her bottom lip nervously.

"Brie it looks amazing and tasty, everyone's gonna love it, so stop worrying, okay?" Gabriella nodded and allowed Troy to give her a reassuring hug until Lucille came through telling them they were ready for the cake.

"You want to carry it or shall I?" Troy asked Gabriella once Lucille had given them the candles and matches and told them to be careful before she returned to the lounge.

"You can, I'm afraid I'll drop it," Gabriella admitted, as Troy finished lighting the candles.

"Okay, I'll carry it, but you better follow me through, don't run off and hide anywhere, yes?"

"I'm gonna follow you Troy, I kinda wanna see everyone's reaction, I_ am_ just afraid I'll drop the cake," Gabriella replied as she leaned up to give Troy a kiss. "Now lets go or they're gonna come and find us," Troy smiled and returned Gabriella's kiss before heading through to the lounge.

**TGTGTGTG**

Today is Christmas Eve and Sophie and Sam's second birthday, Helena and Harold had joined the family for the day to enjoy a little party Lucille had put together.

Since collapsing in the garden, Gabriella had come on leaps and bounds. She visited the school counsellor once a week with Troy by her side and the tears that were shed weren't just from Gabriella. She'd recounted to Karen, her counsellor, and Troy every death she'd gone through in her life, what she could remember of them, and the pain and anguish she'd carried with her since each one.

Troy couldn't wrap his head around how Gabriella had coped for as long as she had, and his tears had come when she admitted that the crying she'd done since the accident was the most she'd cried since her father's and mother's deaths, having only shed a few tears then. She admitted that when they both died she knew she had someone to turn to, even though she didn't know about living with her Grandparents until after her Mum's death, she knew they existed because Lucille had mentioned them. She'd then told them how she hadn't cried when she realised her Grandma had died at the scene because she still had her Grandpa, but had admitted that she let out a strangled sob and curled into a ball when the hospital staff had told her, her Grandpa had also died. She admitted to Troy how she was pretty sure her arm was broken then, but was just too shocked to let anyone touch her and only moved from her position when Lucille came and told her it was time to get out of there.

Troy had shared every emotion Gabriella went through with Karen and it had been tough for everyone involved, but the fact that she'd gotten this far in her recovery so quickly, amazed everyone, including Karen, who told Gabriella she only wanted to see her every so often after Christmas, feeling her help was no longer needed.

During one of her first sessions with Karen Gabriella had spoken with her about wanting to meet Harold and Helena again, but admitted at the same time that she was beyond scared, that after the way she'd acted towards them last time they wouldn't want to see her again. Troy had straight away told her different, as had Karen, both telling her Harold and Helena would love to see her again, but they knew it would just take time, but it was during that session that Gabriella had decided it was time. So that weekend Troy and Gabriella had gone to stay with Harold and Helena and along with speaking and getting to know each other, the young couple had helped Helena and Harold get some things done round the house and in the garden, that their old age had stopped them from doing.

They'd seen the couple many times since that weekend, both alone and with the family, but everyone knew that this visit and tomorrows would be the most testing for Gabriella. She'd been through her first birthday without her family, December 14th, turning eighteen and spending the day with the Bolton's and the wildcats who came round for a massive sleep over. But this would be her first Christmas without her family, something that in the Bolton's household was a truly family affair and no one, not even Gabriella, knew how she was going to react.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy awoke to the sound of coughing and judging by the darkness outside, he concluded it was still night time and that he needed to investigate now rather than when he got up. He pulled himself out of bed and padded over to his en suite, where he found Gabriella sat on the closed toilet seat, a tissue crumpled in her hands, as she sniffled and wrapped an arm round her stomach as she started to cough again.

"Hey lovely, what you doing up?" Troy asked, as he walked over to Gabriella and crouched down in front of her, resting his hands on her knees comfortingly.

"I was finding it hard to breathe lying down," Gabriella answered softly, as she leant foreword and rested her forehead against Troy's shoulder, allowing him to immediately feel her high temperature.

"Lovely, you've got a temperature and your breathing isn't sounding to great either, have you taken anything? I'm guessing that's why you're in here."

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah I came in here to take some, but then I started coughing and got dizzy so I had to sit down and then my nose started running and then you came in, so yeah, I didn't take anything."

Troy smiled at her long winded explanation, as he gently sat her back up and got up to grab her a couple of painkillers from the cupboard and took them over to her with a glass of water. "Here sweetheart, take these and then we'll get you back to bed. You need to try and get some more rest; it's no fun being ill on Christmas." Gabriella smiled slightly, as she took the water and tablets and winced as they came into contact with her throat.

"Sore throat?" Troy guessed, as he helped Gabriella up and led her back through to the bed, allowing her to crawl into it from his side and settle herself snugly back under the covers on hers.

"Try and get some more sleep lovely," Troy said, as he settled back into bed himself and gathered Gabriella gently into his arms. "And if you wake up again you wake me up to, alright? It's no fun being ill and struggling to breathe, let alone doing it by yourself, _especially_ at Christmas, so you wake me understood?" Gabriella nodded and cuddled herself closer to Troy, who didn't hesitate in pulling her any closer and rubbing her back, lulling them both back into a peaceful sleep.

**TGTGTGTG**

Amber and Lillie loved Christmas, it was their favourite time of the year, getting up to a living room full of presents, but today they hadn't opened their presents yet because Troy and Gabriella weren't up, but they were about to go and change that.

Lucille had sent them to go and wake up Troy and Gabriella because everyone else had been up a good twenty minutes and weren't allowed to go in the living room until everyone was up and so were waiting in the quiet room at the front of the house, but waiting with two, two year olds, was starting to ware thin.

Giggling between them the twins pushed open Troy's bedroom door, not bothering to knock, but stopped with the sight they were met with. Troy and Gabriella were sat up in bed, as Gabriella battled her way through a coughing fit and Troy ran his hand up and down her back to comfort her the best he could.

"We need to go and get Mummy," Amber whispered to Lillie, who straight away agreed and the girls left the room, just as silently as they'd arrived, to go and fetch Lucille.

"Mummy, Mummy, Mummy," they shouted together, as they ran back down the stairs, where they were met at the bottom by Lucille.

"Woah slow down girls, what's going on? Where are Troy and Gabi?" Lucille asked lifting the girls up off of the large bottom step.

"Gabi's sick," Amber answered.

Lillie nodded in agreement. "She's coughing really bad Mummy; Troy's trying to make her feeling better though."

"Well that's not good," Lucille said turning to Jack who'd been listening while trying play with Sophie and Sam, who'd since gone to bug the still half asleep Jessie and Jazzy.

"Listen, I'll take these guys through and have some breakfast before presents while you go and see what's happening," Jack said, as he began ushering the others through to the kitchen.

"Yeah okay, I won't be long, Troy's probably got it all under control anyway," Lucille replied, as she gave Jack a quick kiss before heading upstairs to check in on the love birds of the house.

Unlike Amber and Lillie, Lucille knocked before entering Troy's room and was met with a sight not to dissimilar from theirs. Troy and Gabriella were still sat up in bed, only now Troy seemed to be comforting Gabriella as she cried and repeatedly apologised for being ill and ruining everyone's Christmas.

"Morning," Lucille greeted softly, as she walked further into the room and sat down on the end of the bed. "Amber and Lillie said you were sick Gabi, you okay?" Gabriella whimpered as she shock her head, before burying it in the crook of Troy's neck, who instantly soothed her, before speaking to Lucille.

"She's been coughing and spluttering most of the night Mum, I woke up and she wasn't here because she was having trouble breathing while laying down and had a sore throat and was coughing and dizzy, I gave her some pain killers and we came back to bed, but she's been coughing so much it's been pretty hard to sleep. We heard the girls come in and out, which is why she's so worried about ruining everyone's Christmas."

"You haven't ruined anyone's Christmas honey, you can't help being ill, it's not your fault," Lucille told Gabriella, as she took one of Gabriella's hands into hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze, something Gabriella seemed to appreciate because she didn't pull away. "Jack's giving the others breakfast now before we open the presents, so I'm gonna go down and make you guys some toast which you can eat while we open the presents," Gabriella whimpered at the thought of eating and cuddled herself closer to Troy. "I know you don't feel like eating honey, but you need to try and keep your strength up because your body is feeling pretty weak right now as it is."

"Mum's right lovely, you don't have to eat much, just a little something for now," Gabriella nodded slowly against Troy's chest, as she let go of Lucille's hand allowing her to get up. "We'll be down in a few Mum, you can get started with the presents if you want, we won't be long."

"Alright sweetie, I'll see you in a few," Lucille said, as she started making her way to the door. "Oh and guys…Merry Christmas!" This simple statement gained Lucille a smile from Gabriella and a Merry Christmas in return from Troy. Today was going to be one of the best Christmases the Bolton family has ever had.

**TGTGTGTG**

Troy laughed at Jack and Harold's crazily happy moods as they played with all the new toys the children had gained, as he made his way out of the lounge and into the kitchen to see how Lucille, Gabriella and Helena were getting on with the washing and clearing up. Helena and Lucille had offered to do it on the account that the others played with the little ones, this offer was straight away accepted by everyone except for Gabriella, who offered to help with the washing and clearing up because she needed to be in a quiet room for a while. Lucille had accepted her offer without question, knowing the loudness of the house was still something Gabriella wasn't yet used to.

"How's it going ladies?" Troy asked, as he walked into the kitchen and jumped up onto the counter, next to where Gabriella was stacking the drying up.

"All done now honey," Lucille answered, as she drained away the water and dried her hands. "Just need to put things away and then we're all done until we have to repeat the process after dinner later."

Troy smiled, knowing that even just having sandwiches in this household caused a lot of washing up. "So, if you're pretty much finished can I borrow Gabi for a bit? I promise I'll have her back in time for when the others wanna play games." Troy fluttered his eyelashes for extra affect, making Helena laugh at her Grandson's behaviour.

"Yes you can borrow Gabi for a bit," Lucille answered, making Troy happily jump down from the counter and take the tea towel from Gabriella. "If I'm thinking right you two haven't swapped presents yet so take as long as you want, and take some painkillers while you're there Gabi, we can all tell you're still suffering," Gabriella nodded and smiled softly, as she allowed Troy to lead her out of the kitchen and up to what was now, thanks to a new door plaque from Amber and Lillie, 'Troyella's room.'

Gabriella immediately flopped onto the bed, her cold showing through straight away, even as she tried her best to hide it.

"Here take these lovely," Troy said, as he handed her two tablets and a glass of water, which Gabriella happily sat up and accepted, once again wincing as the water came into contact with her sore throat. "We can have a cuddle for a bit once we've opened presents if you want? Present opening won't take that long to do and by cuddling you can rest your voice for a bit, before we have to head back downstairs and play charades and what not," Troy said, as he flopped down onto the bed next to Gabriella, lying on his stomach, looking up at her.

"It doesn't really hurt when I talk, to be honest, just when I eat and drink, but the cuddling and quiet still sounds good, it can get pretty loud down there at times," Gabriella answered, as she put her glass of water on the bedside table before reaching under the bed to pull out Troy's present. "Here, open mine first." She handed him the package and then settled herself back against the pillows, curling onto her side so that she could see Troy's face as he opened the gift.

Troy opened the present quickly but soon stopped when he was unsure as to what it was. "It's a digital photo frame," Gabriella told him. "I've come to realise how much you like taking photo's and you can't possibly print them all and put them up somewhere, so I figured this seemed a good way to do it as well. You put your memory stick with the photos on into the USB port on the frame and then it transports them over and when you have it on it plays a slide show of all the different pictures you have on there." Troy smiled at all the thought that Gabriella had put into his present, before moving himself further up the bed, so that he was eye level with her.

"Brie I love it, it's amazing, thank you so much," Troy said, as he leaned towards her and placed multiple kisses all over her face. "Okay, now you get to open mine," Troy rolled over to grab Gabriella's present from under his side of the bed. "It's kinda lame and the guys would tease me for months if they knew about it, but I don't really care what they think to be honest with you. They've all been in relationships for longer than me, they're way worse at the whole sappy boyfriend thing." Gabriella giggled, as she took her present from Troy and proceeded to open it.

"It's beautiful," were the next words that came from her mouth, as she took the bracelet from the box to look at the charms more closely.

"I choose those charms specifically because they mean something to us and our relationship; I know we've only been together for three months, but they've been some of the most amazing months of my life Brie." Gabriella smiled softly, as she leaned over to Troy and pecked him softly on the lips.

"Thank you so much, I love it. Put it on for me?" She asked Troy, who immediately took the bracelet from her and secured it round her left wrist. "Tell me what they mean?" She asked, as they moved the wrapping paper off of the bed and settled down for a cuddle and in Gabriella's case a bit of a rest from her cold and feeling lousy.

"Okay," Troy started, as he pulled Gabriella closer and fingered the charms on the bracelet, as Gabriella's arm lay draped across his stomach. "So, the basketball is because I play and because you're pretty good at it as well. The cupcake is because you are _very_ good at making _delicious_ cakes. The little tiger face is because you truly are a wildcat now and the heart is because I'm seriously falling for you Brie." Gabriella blushed bright red, as she turned and nuzzled her face into Troy's chest.

"Me too Troy, I think I'm falling for you too," She admitted softly a few minutes later and Troy smiled his amazing Bolton grin at her, before leaning in and capturing Gabriella's lips in the most tantalizing kiss they'd ever experienced.

**TGTGTGTG**

Helena and Harold had gone home, Jessie and Jazzy were both on the phone to their respective other halves, Jack and Lucille were putting the little ones to bed and Troy was comforting Gabriella, as she thought her way through another coughing fit.

The afternoon had been fun filled, with various games such as charades and twister taking place, but now that Christmas day was coming to a close Gabriella's cold seemed to be at its worst and as tears glistened in her eyes, Troy quickly realised that she was feeling far worse than she was letting on.

"Lets get you up to bed sweetheart, come on," Troy said, as he stood up from the couch and held his hands out to Gabriella, but she simply shook her head, not wanting to get up.

"I can't, it hurts," She whispered, as she leant forward and rested her head on her knees, her arms wrapped round her stomach which ached from all of her recent coughing.

"Okay beautiful, come here, I'll carry you," Troy said, as he straightened Gabriella's body out and picked her up as if she were a child. Her head rest on his shoulder, as his arms locked safely under her bottom keeping her tightly against him. He gently laid her on their bed upon arriving in their room and silently began assessing his next move. Gabriella needed to get changed, but sensing there was no way she was going to do this herself, Troy knew that tonight it would be his job. So, he knelt down next to the bed and softly ran his fingers through Gabriella's hair until she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"We need to get you changed honey, so can you sit up for me," Gabriella nodded and slowly sat up allowing Troy to gently change her from her knitted dress and tights into her comfy blue pyjamas. He then got himself changed before carrying Gabriella into their bathroom where he sat her on the closed toilet seat and helped her to wash her face and clean her teeth, only briefly leaving the room to allow her to use the toilet. He then carried her back to bed and got her settled before cleaning his own teeth and grabbing her some more pain killers, which he helped her to sit up and take before he slid into bed next to her.

"I'm not really tired yet lovely, but you need to get some rest, so I'm going to watch some telly while you try and get some sleep, alright?" Gabriella nodded from her resting place against Troy's chest and cuddled herself closer to him, as sleep started to pull her into its grasps.

"Troy?" She whispered just before sleep won the battle.

"Yeah beautiful?"

"Merry Christmas."

Troy smiled and placed soft kisses into her hair. "Merry Christmas to you too lovely, a very Merry Christmas."

**TGTGTGTG**

**There it is guys, chapter thirteen, hope you liked it!**

**I'm sorry it's been a while getting here but it's exam season right now and things have been pretty heavy, but now that I have four out of my five exams out of the way, I found the time to finish this chapter for you.**

**I'm not sure when I'm going to be taking the poll down, but it won't be up for long, so after you all review go and vote please!**

**Speaking of reviews I'm pretty sure I still can't review reply, which annoys me but there's not a lot I can do about it. Am I the only one having this trouble? Please let me know :)**

**The next chapter is the last and I think will take place a year on from where things started off.**

**AS ALWAYS:**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!**


	14. What A Difference A Year Makes

**Thank you all so much for your amazing reviews for the last chapter and the story as a whole, every single one of them means the world to me!**

**Before I forget I sadly want to announce that I will no longer be taking part in my joint account with Crazy4BIEBER17MrsJustinBieber called MusicalLovers2011. Our only story 'I Understand' was and still is very personal to me, but I no longer feel that I can carry on co-writing it and for this I apologies to you readers, but also to you Charli, I'm so very sorry. What will happen to the story and account, I'm unsure, but if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me and I will do my best to answer them, with possibly, some help from my co-write. **

**If you haven't voted in my poll ****or have only voted once, please go and vote now because it will be coming down in the next couple of days so I can start writing the winner, which is already becoming clear! Though things could still change!**

**Anyway, here it is, the last chapter of What I've Been Looking For!**

What A Difference a Year Makes

He knew exactly where she was, it had been their place to come to think since they'd started university. Their place like the roof top or basketball court at East High, somewhere they could go when they were upset and know that the other would know exactly where they were.

Troy knew that today of all days, this is where she would be. A year to the day since he'd met her, meaning it was a year to the day since Gabriella had been involved in a car accident and lost both of her Grandparents, leaving her all alone.

She had come such an unbelievably long way since that day, gone back to the girl she used to be, the girl Troy had helped her work hard to get back to, so he could meet her and see the old Gabriella, the real, amazing, more beautiful than ever Gabriella Montez.

Troy approached the tree which sat on the top of a small hill just to the side of the University of Albuquerque's football filed and smiled softly when he saw Gabriella sat underneath it, leaning against it, staring out over the campus.

"My beautiful, lovely Brie, what are you doing out here? I thought I told you to come and find me if you were feeling down or upset today; I didn't want you to come out here and cry on your own. I don't like knowing you've been crying, let alone knowing there was no one here to comfort you," Troy spoke softly to Gabriella, as he sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her, letting her snuggle into him. In return Gabriella gave him a watery smile, before turning herself further into him and burying her face into the crook of his neck and letting out all of her pent up emotions which came with the anniversary of today.

"Do you want to go and see them lovely? Take some flowers with us?" Troy asked some time later, as Gabriella's tears subsided and she pulled away to wipe her face.

"I'd like that," Gabriella answered, as she cuddled herself closer to Troy. "We won't be back in time for dinner though."

Troy chuckled softly. "It's alright, I've already sorted that, I phoned Mum and asked her to keep some warm for us and then we can eat it by ourselves when we get back, in the basement if you like, away from everyone else, in the quiet."

"You think of everything, don't you?" Gabriella asked, once again taken aback by Troy's caring nature towards her.

"Well I try, just like you do," Troy replied. "Now come on, get up," Troy told her, as he stood up and held his hands out to her in order to pull her up and into a hug. "I love you Brie, don't you ever forget that."

"I love you too Troy, thank you," and with that said and done, the couple headed off to the church yard, somewhere they really wished they didn't need to go.

**TGTGTGTG**

The next day Troy waved Lucille and Jack off, as they left to go and have a meal out with Helena and Harold. He watched them until they were at the end of the road, before turning and looking the other way just in time to see his friends all pulling up in their cars. He held the door open for them, as they all filed into the house and through into the lounge where his siblings, along with Joe, Jake and Gabriella were already waiting.

"Alright people, listen up," Troy spoke up once everyone was settled and quiet. "We all know that Saturday is Mum and Dad's twenty fifth wedding anniversary and I know we've left it kinda late to plan something, but I think if we work together we _can_ get something sorted."

"Of course we can sort something out Troy" Taylor said. "It shouldn't be that hard with all of us working together, but do you have a venue? Because without one already booked _that_ may be a problem."

"That's one thing I have done Taylor. I spoke to Grandma and Grandpa, who know about this whole and purposefully offered to take Mum and Dad out tonight so we could meet. Grandma said she'd speak to some of her friends, who help run the community centre by school. When we were over there on Sunday, Grandma told me that the community centre is booked for our use all day on Saturday _and_ she gave me the keys, which I then give back to her at the end of the night. We have all day Saturday to decorate the place and get things set up, but we need to sort out all the things we'll need before we can even think about that. I was hoping that all of us together would be able to come up with the things we'll need and then get them together by Saturday in time to get it all in there, everyone in?"

A unanimous 'yes' chorused round the room and soon, Taylor being the organised one had taken charge of listing and organising things, while Troy went and phoned for take away pizza, knowing food would be the best way to keep everyone going and motivated.

"Okay, so we need to invite people as soon as possible, tomorrow morning now because it's too late to do it tonight. We need food, decorations and of course music, right?" It was now two hours later and Troy was reading out the finalised list of what was needed to make the party a success.

"All sounds good to me," Jessie answered. "Now read out who's doing what."

"Okay, so tomorrow morning because we haven't got a lecture or anything me and Brie will ring round people and invite them and try and get them to RSVP then, but if not Thursday morning at the latest so we know how many we're catering for. Speaking of food, Grandma said her and some of her friends can get a buffet together between them and if we help them they can get it all set up on Saturday as well. Ryan and Sharpay have said they'll happily provide decorations," Troy announced, to which the Evans' twins nodded. "Kelsi you sure about being our DJ?"

"Of course, when have I ever turned down a chance to play and be around music?" Kelsi asked causing everyone to laugh.

"Fair point," Troy replied. "Tomorrow afternoon on our way home from Uni, Brie and I will drop into the bakery and put an order in for a cake to be specially made and then some time before Saturday we also need to get hold of some 'Happy 25th Anniversary' balloons, but that can be done on the day if necessary, other than that I think we're done, nice one guys!" A quiet cheer and small round of applause went round the group of teenagers, who although they were pleased of their achievement in one evening, they didn't want to make Gabriella's job of putting the youngest four Bolton's to bed, harder than it already was, especially when all the little monkey's wanted to do was stay up and play.

"What's the cheering about?" Gabriella asked, as she appeared in the doorway and took a seat on the arm of the couch next to Troy.

"The fact that we achieved everything tonight that needed to be," Troy answered, as he snaked his arm around he waist and pulled her down onto his lap. "Did they all go down alright?" Troy asked in regard to his siblings, as Gabriella got herself comfortable.

"Yep, Sam and Sophie were out before I even got the chance to sit down and read the story, but the girls just about lasted 'til the end of their story."

"Good stuff! So if Chad moves the bird's nest that is his hair we can all watch a movie, Chad?"

"I'll move, but I resent that fact that you just called my hair a bird's nest, Betty is no longer talking to you."

"Betty? Seriously Chad? You named your hair? And for the record, hair can't talk," Jasmine informed him, as she and Jake moved along the couch to sit next to Troy and Gabriella so more people could sit on there.

"That's it, I'm not talking to anyone for the rest of the night," Chad declared, as he moved away from everyone and crossed his arms over his chest to prove his point.

"Fine with us," Troy responded. "It'll be so much quieter," he told Chad making everyone laugh, as they all settled in for a well deserved movie night.

**TGTGTGTG**

Giving herself one final look over in the floor length mirror in her room, Gabriella grabbed her clutch and left the room to check on Troy.

After she and Troy had sorted through her Grandparents belongings, the box room was completely clear and ready to be decorated. A light shade of yellow along with a few personal touches identified it as Gabriella's. It wasn't where she slept, there wasn't even a bed, no, she still shared Troy's bed, claiming that having his arms around her at night was the only way she could get any sleep. But the room was there for her to get changed in, making things a lot easier for her and Troy and giving her somewhere to go that was hers, somewhere where no one else was allowed to go, unless they had permission.

Knocking on Troy's bedroom door she waited for him to give her the all clear before going in and taking a seat on the bed. She watched Troy from behind, as he finished buttoning up his white shirt before putting his black waist coat on to go with his black trousers and dress shoes. He turned around a few minutes later after giving his hair a quick comb through and was completely taken aback by how amazing Gabriella looked.

"Sweetheart you look amazing, really beautiful," Troy told her sincerely, as he made his way over to her and stood in front of her, taking in her dress more closely.

Gabriella was wearing a black, strapless dress which flowed down to just below her knees and had had a deep purple ribbon running around the middle, tying into a bow at the back. Gabriella had added some silver bangles and silver 'T' necklace Troy had recently given her, along with some deep purple flats to finish off the look.

"Thanks," Gabriella responded, as Troy took a seat next to her. "You don't look so bad yourself." She told him, as they leaned in to share a kiss. The kiss started to become very heated and the pair was soon laying side by side on the bed in the middle of a make out session. Troy's hand travelled from Gabriella's waist to her thigh were he rested it _on top of_ her dress and started to rub soothing circles, or so he thought.

Something flipped inside Gabriella as Troy's hand changed positions from her waist to her thigh. Sure they made out loads of times before today, but today something set off the sirens inside her head and she started to freak out. She began to struggle against Troy, until he pulled back from the kiss to ask what was wrong, but he didn't even get the chance because Gabriella was up and onto the balcony before he even got the chance to open his mouth.

Out on the balcony Gabriella had sat on the floor in the corner to the left of the door, against the house and had curled herself into a ball. She didn't care that she was messing her make up, up by crying or that her dress would get dirty by sitting on the floor, she just needed to get out. She knew Troy would follow her, but for now, she just needed to get out.

She wasn't sure how long it was before Troy came out, but she knew it wasn't long. He came out and sat down next to her, being careful not to get to close to her, to give her, her own personal space and that was one of the many things she loved about him. She knew all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her, but he didn't, he kept his distance and for that she loved him even more.

"What happened in there lovely? Did I hurt you? Did I go too far? Please sweetheart, give me something to go on here." Gabriella simply shook her head, not wanting to talk, only wanting one thing from Troy, the one thing he was willing to give.

"Hug?"

"Come here sweet girl," Troy held his arms open for Gabriella and she moved over into them, cuddling herself into him and allowing his heart beat to soothe her.

"I haven't got time to play a guessing game with you sweetheart, I know you don't want to talk to me, but I need you to tell me what went wrong in there so it doesn't happen again and so that I can apologies for it."

"It wasn't you," Gabriella answered softly.

"What was it then honey? Talk to me," Troy matched Gabriella's soft voice, as he momentarily broke their hold to wipe away her tears, before cuddling her back again him.

"When I was with the girls the other day, they were all talking about their first times and how the boys were so gentle and lovely with them and then they asked me if we'd done it yet. I wasn't gonna lie to them Troy, so I told them we hadn't. They told me that…that you probably wanted to and that…I should just forget my fears or whatever and go with it because after the first time I'd realise it was actually quite enjoyable and then I wouldn't be the only virgin. But I don't want to do it Troy, I'm not ready," Gabriella admitted softly, as the tears once again began tumbling down her cheeks.

Troy didn't know how to react straight away and just pulled her even further again him, rocking them from side to side as he thought over what she'd just told him. He was angry that the girls had acted that way with Gabriella, yeah he expected them to talk about things like that, the boys all did and he just let them rib him for still being a virgin, if he wanted to wait then he would, no matter how much ribbing was sent his way. But the fact that they said he probably wanted it and that she should just go with it because she'd realise it was enjoyable, really got to him, and he wasn't about to let this go just by talking to Gabriella, he was going to talk to them _all_ as well, he wanted to stop this now, especially before the boys also joined in. Ribbing him was one thing, but Gabriella? That was stooping to a completely different level and he wasn't having any of it.

"Sweetheart, listen to me," Troy said, as he pulled Gabriella away from him so that he could look her in the eye. "What they said to you was completely out of line and I don't want you to listen to a single word of it. I'm not going to lie to you Brie and say that I haven't thought about sex because I have, I'm a teenage boy, I have those thoughts and you're my girlfriend, so of course you're part of them, but I have_ never_ once thought about acting on them, not without talking about it with you first, not without making sure _you_ are ready first. A relationship is a two way thing lovely and I wouldn't be playing my part in that if I just tried to have sex with you without making sure you're ready first. When the time is right, when we're_ both_ ready to take that next step in our relationship, then we'll talk about it and our feelings and where we want things to go and only then would I think about going through with anything, you understand me?"

Gabriella nodded and wiped away her tears, angry with herself for crying again. "I'm sorry Troy, I didn't mean to make you think you'd done something wrong in there, I just freaked out, I couldn't help it, I'm sorry."

"Honey you have_ nothing_ to be sorry about,_ nothing_ at all, you hear me?" Gabriella nodded silently and buried her head into the crook of Troy's neck, completely embarrassed. "Now how about we go back inside, dust ourselves off, you wash your face and no doubt re do your make up and then we're gonna go celebrate you hear me?" Nodding Gabriella stood up and waited for Troy to stand as well, before heading inside. "And Brie? If they're ever out of line like that to you again, you tell me, they shouldn't have done that and I will be speaking to them all, no matter how much you try and stop me, alright?" Gabriella nodded, not even bothering to argue with Troy, knowing she'd only be fighting a losing battle.

**TGTGTGTG**

They had absolutely no idea where they were going, but they had been given strict instructions and they were going to follow them, if they didn't they would have to face the wrath of an angry Troy and they _did not_ want that.

They'd been woken up this morning by their four youngest children who then proceeded to pull them downstairs into the dining room where they were met with an amazing cooked breakfast and _a lot_ of gifts. They spent the day in the garden playing with their children and of course Gabriella, enjoying the fact that this was where their marriage had gotten them to. At five o'clock Helena and Harold arrived and along with Troy loaded the others into their cars, before giving Jack and Lucille a set of instructions and telling them to leave the house at six to be there by half past and to dress smart, and with that said, they got in their cars and left. Jack and Lucille looked at each other slightly baffled before heading up stairs to change before following their very precise instructions.

"The community centre?" Jack asked, as he pulled into the car park and parked the car in the seemingly empty area.

"We followed the instructions to the letter Jack, this is the place, I guess we just need to head inside and see what's going on, come on," Lucille said, as she grabbed her clutch and got out of the car meeting Jack at the front and heading towards the entrance of the hall.

Jack held the door open for Lucille who stepped inside the darkened hall, before following her and closing the door behind him.

They both looked at each other through the darkness, wondering if they were in the right place, but what happened next, confirmed that they were.

"_SURPRISE!"_

The lights were flicked on and Jack and Lucille were met with a room of cheering, clapping people. Their friends, colleagues and even students stood in front of them and right in the centre of it all stood their children, their family, who along with Gabriella were cheering and clapping louder than everyone else put together. The clapping died down and Troy stepped forward with a microphone in his hand.

"Twenty five years is amazing and there was no way we could let it pass like any other anniversary, so tonight, all of this, Mum and Dad, this is all for you, _happy anniversary!"_ And with a nod towards Kelsi the music began to play and the party was officially started.

Half an hour later the mingling had been done and seeing that his friends were all together, Troy took it was the perfect opportunity to give him a piece of his mind over what the girls had said to Gabriella and to warn the guys to not even start.

Walking back over to Gabriella, he set her drink down on the table before kneeling down in front of her. "I'm gonna go and talk to the gang while they're all together, why don't you go and help Grandpa with Sam and Sophie? I don't want you sitting by yourself milling things over while I'm talking to them."

"Yeah okay," Gabriella responded and gave Troy a quick peck on the lips, before getting up and heading to the dance floor, where Harold was having trouble dancing with two very excitable two year olds.

Troy watched her as she picked Sophie up and spun her around, before he got up and made his way over to his friends, he wanted her to be distracted, he didn't want her to have to hear what he was about to say them.

**TGTGTGTG**

"I have no idea what to say," Jack said, as he stood next to Lucille on the community centre's stage, microphone in hand. "Erm…you're right Troy, twenty five years is amazing and I'm sure Lucille will back me by saying that the things that we've achieved in that time, have been equally amazing. The jobs we have, the people we've met, the students I teach and of course our family. My Mum and Dad have played such an amazing part in those past twenty five years and have bee amazing in playing the part of two sets of parents, after Lucille's sadly passed away just after the wedding. You've been there every step of the way, especially every time we brought another human being into the world, to you it meant another Grandchild to spoil, to us it meant we were getting that bit closer to achieving the large family we'd always wanted. You all know we have a pretty crazy family, with three sets of twins and poor old Troy by himself, we were never going to be normal, or quiet, but I wouldn't change any of it for the world. You're all growing up now," Jack directed towards his children. "And it scares me to think that sooner or later we're gonna be celebrating your weddings and we'll have Grandchildren of our own to spoil. You have no idea how much any of you mean to me, or what I would do for any of you because I simply can't find the words to explain it, you, my crazy, amazing family, are my world and there is no way I would change any of it, or any of you, in fact I would gladly do it all again." The room once again erupted into cheers, as Jack and a teary eyed Lucille shared a kiss and a hug, before Jack lifted the microphone back to his mouth.

"The thing is though guys, there are nine of us in our family and I don't like odd numbers, but a little over a year ago one very special person changed that. When Lucille told me you were going to come and stay with us Gabriella, I never expected you to still be here, let alone dating my son. I was introduced to a shy, scared and very wary young lady, but in front of me, I see a confident, bright and incredibly beautiful young woman. You made us ten Gabriella and although I would've preferred to of met you under better circumstances I thank you for agreeing to stay with us and be a part of our family because without you, I'd still have a grumpy, single, teenage son to deal with." Jack paused and waited for the boys to stop teasing Troy and for the girls to dry their tears. "You see the thing is Gabriella, that without knowing, without even trying, you and Troy have found what you've been looking for. You've found that one person, your soul mate, the one person who you truly can't live without and if I'm not back here in under ten years, celebrating your marriage, then I swear to you all now I will jump into the park's lake butt naked and you really don't want to see that."

"I swear Dad if you do that, I will disown you forever," Jessie shouted, earning her a laugh and a shrug of the shoulders from Jack.

"Seriously thought guys, today may be about me and Luce and our relationship, but I want to make a different toast, a toast to a new relationship; to Troy and Gabriella!"

"_Troy and Gabriella!"_

**TGTGTGTG**

**I know that may seem like a bit of a funny place ****to end it, but it feels right, so that's how it's staying.**

**Its done guys, it's over and I'm actually quite emotional right now, Jack's speech came straight from my heart and somewhere in there, there's a lesson for us all!**

**This**** story has had such an amazing response and you have no idea how amazing you've all made me feel and so from the bottom of my heart: THANK YOU! Thank you for reviewing, for adding me to alerts and favourites and for sticking by me when I haven't always been around. You and this story have helped me get through some really though times, so thank you all once again.**

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